Internal Dem Survey Shows Republican Message Resonates

Greg Sargent reports:

An internal poll conducted for House Dem leaders, which I’ve obtained, tested a range of Dem and GOP messages and concluded that the anti-insurance industry line is the most convincing of all messages from either side…. The survey – taken in 60 battleground districts – found that when people were asked whether they believed reform would shift “power from insurance companies to people,” 62% found it very or somewhat convincing, with 39% finding it “very convincing.” Asked if the “status quo means insurance companies are in charge,” 61% found it convincing. The poll also lends some comfort to Republicans, testing GOP messages and finding them effective. The most persuasive GOP attacks: That reform will “further bankrupt the country with trillions more in deficit spending,” which 59% found convincing, and that reform means treatment will be “decided by politicians” and “bureaucrats,” which 58% found convincing.

So the Republican message resonates with voters — people fear that health care reform will further bankrupt the country and that the effect of the reform will be to put bureaucrats and politicians, rather than doctors, in charge of health care decisions. On the other hand, people also hate insurance companies. So the Democrats have decided that rather than address the fears of voters, perhaps by explaining why those fears are unfounded (would if they could?), they will simply stoke populist resentment toward insurance companies. It’s the kind of strategy that liberals and reporters go bananas about when exploited by Republicans. Salon has a piece today comparing Sarah Palin and Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who “both are populists who claim to represent the little people against wily and unscrupulous elites.” Yet when Nancy Pelosi send her caucus home to tell voters that insurance companies are the “villains” — well, don’t expect a piece in Salon comparing Pelosi to Hugo Chavez.

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