Republicans are sending around this gloss on the new NBC poll:
Despite an unprecedented media blitz, a speech to a joint session of Congress, town halls and rallies and innumerable media interviews, views of the Presidentโs health care proposal is statistically unchanged in an NBC poll released tonight.
Health care
โMore Americans think โBarack Obamaโs health care planโ is a โbad ideaโ (41) than think itโs a โgood ideaโ (39); last month, 42 thought it was a bad idea and 36 said it was a good idea
โMore people continue to disapprove of the Presidentโs handling of health care (46) than approve (45); last month, 47 disapproved and 41 approved
โFor the first time, less than 20 percent believe the Presidentโs health care plan will improve the quality of their care (19 percent think it will improve while 36 percent believe it will get worse); last month, 24 percent thought their care would improve
โWhen given a choice of either the Presidentโs plan or maintaining the status quo, only 45 percent chose change; 39 percent preferred doing nothing to enacting the Presidentโs proposal
โA plurality (48) continue to oppose โa public health care plan administered by the federal government that would compete directly with private health insurance companiesโ with 46 percent in support
โWhen asked about specific provisions that must/should be in the bill, more people wanted caps on junk lawsuits than a government plan, an individual mandate or an employer mandate; only the pre-existing conditions issue polled higher
โMore people want the federal government to address jobs and the economy than health care: When asked โwhich of these issues do you think should be the next highest priority for the federal government to address,โ only 21 percent said โhealth careโ while 30 percent chose jobs/economic growth and 18 percent said deficit/government spending
Job approval
โThe Presidentโs job approval has not changed after the speech, rallies and interviews and remains at 51 percent while 41 disapprove (it was 51-40 last month)
โFor the first time, a plurality of Independents (46) disapprove of the Presidentโs job performance while only 41 percent approve (according to the accompanying WSJ article); last month, 49 percent of independents approved of the president while 38 percent disapproved






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