The latest New York Times/CBS poll on Obamacare and the Supreme Court is consistent with previous polling on the issue, and it is not good for Obamacare supporters. A few highlights:
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More than two-thirds of Americans want to see Obamacare struck down. 68 percent of those polled want to see the Court strike down at least part of Obamacare, including 41 percent who think the Court should overturn the entire law. Interestingly, there is overwhelming public support to overturn the law, despite the fact that 45 percent of those polled approve of the mandate as a matter of policy. Encouraging news for those of us who believe that the Constitution ought to trump policy preferences.
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A plurality of Democrats continue to oppose some part of the law. A full 48 percent of Democrats want the Court to strike down at least the mandate, compared with only 42 percent of Democrats who want the Court to keep the entire law. Independents show even less support for the law, as 72 percent of them want to see at least the Court strike down the individual mandate. For only 42 percent of Democrats to support the Obama administration’s position in Court is quite remarkable, and shows just how badly the Obama administration bungled the issue.
It’s worth mentioning, as Ilya Somin put it, that this type of polling data only goes to show that the Court is “probably not going to be deterred from striking . . . [the mandate] down by fear of a political backlash or damage to their legitimacy.” But, given the Left’s very public lobbying efforts invoking the Supreme Court’s institutional legitimacy, these polls are still important data points confirming that a positive result would vindicate the Constitution and public opinion.