When the Democrats were defying public opinion in March 2010 and passing Obamacare, they presumably would have been horrified to look into a crystal ball and see a poll from September 2014 finding that, if given a choice between repealing Obamacare or keeping it as-is, Americans would support repeal by a tally of well over two-to-one (44 to 17 percent). Well, unfortunately for Obamacare supporters, that’s the finding of a new Politico poll.
The poll, which surveyed likely voters in battleground races, didn’t even ask respondents whether they’d prefer an alternative to Obamacare. In fact, it didn’t mention an alternative at all — as if the Republicans’ stated position (Obamacare needs to be repealed and replaced) weren’t even an option on the table. No matter: In a three-way race involving straight repeal (44 percent), keeping Obamacare as is (17 percent), or making undisclosed “modifications” to it (38 percent), straight repeal won with a clear plurality. Respondents preferred the thought of repealing Obamacare to trying to fix it. Many more presumably would prefer to repeal Obamacare and replace it with real reform.
In all, this is a pretty miserable polling result for Obamacare.
So how did Politico report it? With this headline: “NEW POLL: MORE WANT TO KEEP ACA THAN REPEAL IT.”
Politico then wrote,
Whatever the GOP’s ambitions may be, a new POLITICO battleground poll provides more evidence that most Americans don’t support repeal. About 55 percent of likely voters in the most competitive House and Senate races said the law should stay — although 38 percent wanted ‘modifications.’ Forty-four percent support outright repeal.
This is pretty brazenly biased reporting from a “disinterested” outlet, but it doesn’t change the findings of the poll. According to the polling results, even without an alternative on the table, something approaching half of all Americans in battleground races support repealing Obamacare, less than two-fifths want to try to fix the unfixable, and only a sixth want to keep the president’s signature legislation as-is.
Repeal is not only in the cards but is the winning play. Now Republicans just need a winning alternative.
© National Review Online 2014, Reprinted with permission.