Gallup’s headline is “46% Favor, 40% Oppose Repealing Healthcare Law,” but I think they’re overlooking the bigger news.
First, the idea that 14 percent of Americans don’t care whether or not Obamacare goes into effect is pretty surprising and interesting. Note that Obama and the Democrats need this to be a driving issue for voters in 2012; put another way, only 40 percent of adults (not registered voters, not likely voters) say they want to keep Obamacare as it is. Barring some dramatic new development, the undecided are unlikely to vote against Republicans because they repealed health care.
Second, look at the partisan breakdown:
After Obamacare’s passage, if you had told Republicans that by January 2011 only 64 percent of Democrats would want to keep it, they would have danced jigs. The notion that nearly a quarter of Democrats support repeal of Obamacare is a big deal. Joe Biden might even throw in another modifier.