Pollster Scott Rasmussen reports that voter opinion has bouned back to opposition to the Obama health care program. His tracking polls for September 12-13, reflecting opinion after Obama’s address to the joint session of Congress September 9, showed voters in support by a 51%-46% margin. The latest tracking, for September 13-14, shows 52%-45% opposition, very similar to the 53%-43% numbers before the speech. The latest results show greater volatility than one ordinarily sees in Rasmussen’s polls, which leads me to insert a note of caution: this could reflect one night’s aberrational results.
Corroborating Rasmussen’s latest results are the finding in the ABC/Washington Post poll that 54% of respondents say that the more they hear about the plan the more they don’t like it and the finding in the Gallup/USAToday poll that respondents would advise their members of Congress to vote for rather than against the bill by only a 50%-47% margin.
Advocates of Obamacare can point out, accurately, that these results do not show massive disapproval of Obama’s health care program. But they also do not show the kind of massive approval that is ordinarily needed to convince politicians to make massive changes in public policy. It reminds me of the story about the Teamsters Union business agent who was in the hospital. He received a bouquet of flowers with a card that read, “The executive board wishes you a speedy recovery by a vote of nine to six.” Not the most ringing of endorsements.
