A survey conducted by Anzalone Liszt Research for the AFSCME, CWA and NEA unions of 1,000 likely voters “across 92 Blue Dog, Rural Caucus, and Frontline districts between February 26 and March 4, 2010” found that 52 percent of the respondents oppose Obamacare, while 42 percent support it.
Here’s the survey’s frontline question three and breakdown of the results (emphasis added):
Q3 As you may know, President Obama has proposed a plan to reform health insurance. Do you strongly support President Obama’s health insurance reform plan, somewhat support, somewhat oppose, or do you strongly oppose Obama’s health insurance reform plan?
Strongly support …………….. 20%
Somewhat support…………… 22%
Total support……………….. 42%
Somewhat oppose……………. 12%
Strongly oppose ……………… 40%
Total oppose………………… 52%
Don’t Know …………………….. 7%
But the results emphasized by Anzalone’s John Anzalone and Matt Hogan in an email to media outlets were these:
* “Strong majorities of these voters want reform and want it this year. There is still strong support for reforming the healthcare system, as 59% of voters in these districts – which are slightly more conservative than the electorate overall – favor major reform or a total overhaul of the current system.
* “They also want reform now, as over 60% believe that it is important to pass health insurance reform this year, including 64% of swing voters (those who do not side with either party in the generic ballot and who make up 28% of voters in these districts) and 93% of Democrats.
* “Once voters learn about the plan, a majority supports it. As we’ve seen in earlier polling and focus groups, voters are largely unaware of any benefits of reform beyond expanding coverage for the uninsured. The vast majority of voters who already have coverage therefore don’t see how reform will help them.
* “After hearing about some of the benefits of the plan however, support for it among voters overall increases from 42% to 51%. Swing voters were particularly receptive to information about the plan, with their level of support rising from 35% to 50% after learning more about it.”
There doesn’t appear to be anything concerning these survey results posted on the web sites of the three unions. It will be interesting to see if they acknowledge the majority opposition to Obamacare in their own survey of key congressional districts.
