A lot of explanations have been offered for how Mitt Romney has been able to emerge as the Republican frontrunner despite having championed and signed the Massachusetts health care law that served as the model for Obamacare. But the Kaiser poll that Conn Carroll linked to earlier may have the simplest answer: voter ignorance.
Among those Republicans who actually expressed an opinion on Romneycare, the results weren’t even close: 23 percent said they had an unfavorable view of the law, compared with just 3 percent who had a positive view. That’s a nearly 8 to 1 margin of opposition to the law that was Romney’s signature legislative accomplishment as governor.
What’s working to Romney’s advantage, however, is that a whopping 70 percent of Republicans surveyed said they didn’t know enough about the law to have an opinion. (Among all Americans, it was even higher at 76 percent.)
The reason is likely that typical Americans don’t follow health care policy closely enough to be aware of what’s been going on at the state level. But it also suggests a failure of Romney’s rivals to adequately educate GOP voters on the plan. With the attack ad season soon to heat up in the early primary states, is it possible that Romney’s health care record will eventually catch up with him?
