Democracy Corps poll shows Obamacare getting more popular in Republican districts
by Joan McCarterFollow
Enrique Gonzalez, 22, (L-R), Janet Regalado, 21, and their nine-month-old daughter Kayleen Gonzalez pose for a photo after signing up for health insurance at an enrolment event in Commerce, California March 31, 2014. U.S. President Barack Obama's embattled U.S. healthcare law, having survived a rollout marred by technology failures, reaches a milestone on Monday with the end of its first enrolment wave, and with the administration likely to come close to its goal of signing up 7 million people in private health insurance. More than 1 million people have signed up for Obamacare in California, according to the Los Angeles Times. REUTERS/Lucy Nicholson (UNITED STATES - Tags: HEALTH POLITICS) - RTR3JDM0
attribution: REUTERS
The Republican flail over Obamacare is showing in some of their districts. The reality is that Republicans don't have anything but repeal to bring to the table, and that the law is working. What that means, according to new polling from Democracy Corps, is that the law is gaining support, even in Republican districts.
According to the findings, 43 percent of respondents in districts held by a Republican member of Congress now say they oppose the health care law because it “goes too far.” That number was 48 percent in December. Opponents still outnumber the 41 percent who say they favor the law. However, Democracy Corps also registers 9 percent of respondents in Republican districts who say they oppose the law because it does not go far enough, a group that ostensibly includes a chunk of voters who wanted a more liberal piece of legislation. (How big that chunk is, is unclear.)
In Republican districts that are the most likely to flip to Democratic control in the 2014 elections, the shift of opinion toward the Affordable Care Act is equally pronounced. Fifty-four percent of respondents from those districts now support implementing and fixing the law versus 40 percent who support repealing and replacing it. In December, those numbers were 48 percent and 44 percent, respectively.
The law is inching toward actual majority support in Democratic districts, now at 44-44 approval versus disapproval, but 8 percent disapprove of the law because it doesn't go far enough. In December, that number was 6 percent, and 42 percent were in favor with 46 percent against.
Overall, "implement and fix" thumps "repeal and replace." Fifty-two percent of respondents say the law needs to be retained and improved, and 42 percent want it repealed and replaced. Replaced with what remains the question of the day, since Republicans are utterly incapable of coming up with something, anything, there. That's continuing the trend line we've seen over months and months of Kaiser Family Foundation polling, which has been the gold standard for Obamacare polling.
But this Democracy Corps poll is showing that Obamacare is even eroding as an issue that Republicans can use to energize their crazy base in November.
