This morning, Quinnipiac gives the GOP and the Right modestly good news on just about all fronts:
The Affordable Care Act (ACA) is a tax hike, American voters say 55 – 36 percent, but in a mixed message, voters agree 48 – 45 percent with the U.S. Supreme Court decision upholding the law, while they say 49 – 43 percent that the U.S. Congress should repeal it, according to a Quinnipiac University national poll released today.
A total of 55 percent of American voters say a presidential candidate’s position on health care is “extremely important” or “very important” to their vote in November, the independent Quinnipiac University poll finds. While 59 percent say the Supreme Court decision will not affect their vote, 27 percent say it will make them less likely to vote for President Barack Obama, while 12 percent say more likely. Independent voters say less likely 27 – 9 percent.
American voters split 48 – 47 percent on whether people should be required to have health insurance. Opposed are Republicans 76 – 19 percent and independent voters 51 – 43 percent, while Democrats support the mandate 79 – 16 percent.
The wording in Quinnipiac’s description of the “Fast & Furious” is a little confusing, but the gist is clear: among those who heard about the House holding Eric Holder in contempt, Americans think that politics played a big role . . . but they still agree with it.
A total of about two-thirds of American voters know something about the vote in the U.S. House of Representatives to hold U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder in contempt of Congress. Of that group, half were asked if they support the contempt vote, with support at 44 – 29 percent, with 27 percent undecided. Among the other half, asked if it was a legitimate attempt to get information or if it was politically motivated, 42 percent say the vote was political while 36 percent say it was legitimate, with 21 percent undecided.
“We asked different questions of two groups of voters. The answers were different but not mutually exclusive. More voters in one group believe the contempt of Congress charges against Attorney General Eric Holder are politically motivated. More voters in the other group support the contempt citation,” said Brown.
Independents support holding Holder in contempt 42 percent to 30 percent. Intriguingly, 39 percent of Democrats have “no opinion” on the Holder contempt citation. I can’t help but suspect that such a high number in that demographic represents a response of “deep down I think the guy I usually support did something wrong, but I can’t bring myself to admit it to a pollster.”
Moving on to the recent decisions on illegal immigration . . .
American voters approve 55 – 39 percent of President Obama’s new policy to end deportation of some young illegal immigrants. While 51 percent say the decision will not affect their vote, 30 percent say it makes them less likely to vote for Obama while 18 percent say more likely.
By 61 – 34 percent, voters want an Arizona-type law in their state, requiring police to check the immigration status of someone they have already stopped or arrested if they suspect he or she is in the country illegally.
Finally, Quinnipiac finds “14 percent say America’s economy is ‘excellent’ or ‘good’ while 86 percent say ‘not so good’ or ‘poor.’”
Note this is a sample of registered voters — and a nice large sample, “2,722 registered voters with a margin of error of +/- 1.9 percentage points.” The only quibble is that the survey was taken from July 1 to July 8 — and over the course of a week, public opinions can change . . .