I'm sorry but sometimes you have to just say it-I called this one did I not? That the bandwagon effect of Obama's successful Scotus defense would by itself begin to raise its popularity. My premise was that a large part of its unpopularity was the President's past unwillingness to defend it.
To be sure there was tremendous financial firepower aimed at it via Alec, et al. with all kinds of scare tactics about death panels, losing your employer's insurance, rates going up, the hated individual mandate, etc. But what really was costly was that Obama-and the other Democrats-seemed to want to distance themselves from their own bill.
While I thought Ezra Klein and others are failing to factor in the bandwagon effects of success-think of the mainstream voter, particularly the vaunted "independent" as being like a woman you have to woo; nothing is more sexy than success whereas nothing is less sexy than failure or Obama and the Dems' shamefaced attitutde to the ACA in 2010-I didn't necessarily imagine they would happen so fast.
http://diaryofarepublicanhater.blogspot.com/2012/06/ezra-klein-gets-it-wrong-on-aca-sjc-win.html
Here it is though:
"A new Reuters/Ipsos online poll found that following the Supreme Court ruling that the health care law is Constitutional, support for the measure increased by 5 percentage points among voters overall and by 11 points among indpendents."
http://www.politico.com/politico44/2012/07/poll-voter-support-for-health-care-increases-after-127830.html
Politico quotes from a Reuter's report:
"Voter support for President Barack Obama's healthcare overhaul rose after the U.S. Supreme Court upheld it but most people still oppose the law, according to a Reuters/Ipsos poll on Sunday.
The online survey showed increased backing from Republicans and, crucially, the political independents whose support will be essential to winning the November 6 presidential election."
"Thirty-eight percent of independents support the healthcare overhaul in the poll conducted after the court ruled Thursday the law was constitutional. That was up from 27 percent from a Reuters/Ipsos poll taken days before the justices' ruling."
"Among all registered voters, support for the law rose to 48 percent, from 43 percent before the court decision.
"This is a win for Obama. This is his bill. There's not really any doubt in people's minds, that it belongs to him," said Julia Clark, vice president a Ipsos Public Affairs. "It's his baby. It's literally been labeled Obamacare ... which maybe it works in his favor now that there's a little bit of a victory dance going on."
"Republican opposition to the law stayed strong, if somewhat weaker than before the High Court ruled. Eighty-one percent of Republicans opposed it in the most recent survey, down from 86 percent in the poll conducted June 19-23."
Long live Obamacare. It's interesting that even Republican support has increased for it-it was after all originally a Republican bill. Although the Repubilcans are loaded for bear and talking about repeal the momentum's against repeal going forward. The idea that it gives them an eletion edge is impressive wishful thinking. It might fire up a lot of conservatives but they were already opposed and already hated the President.
However, again, there's something very seductive about winning. You can see this in even Republican support rising. My guess is that this will only continue. And with the victory as suggested above by all means let's call it Obamacare, let's give him all the ownership in the world as the Repugs have insisted from day one.
By the way, as to the question of who benefits and who doesn't and Klein's worry that the bill won't be popular until the benefits become clear, I should say that there are people now already beginning to see Obamacare's benefits.
Again, I think Klein's worry is wrong as this poll shows. However, I was talking to my mother and it turns out that her and my father are already seeing a benefit-a provision in Obamcare allows them to attend a health club and gym for free as doing so is preventive-the ACA allows for preventive measures to be included in health care.
Note also that my parents are not poor but are actually upper middle class out here on Long Island. I mention that only because most of the Tea Party Republicans who oppose Obamacare fit this profile-I imagine many here on Long Island consider it an albatross. The reason for this is becasue while NY is rightfully seen as liberal, Long Island is more Republican.
Long Islanders tend to be somewhat fiscally conservative though more socially liberal. In typical Long Island rational ignorance, a lot of people here of course reason why should they be forced to pay for the individual mandate and hear they might lose their employer's insurance plan, etc. Ie, their rational ignorance radar is up: is Obamacare going to help the "welfare queens" by giving them free stuff on their dime? For they are not the kind of people who necessarily have any pity for the 52 million uninsured Americans reasoning those people ought to go get a job if they need to buy health insurance.
Yet as my parents' experience suggests there are benefits for the upper middle class as well. With all the lies that have been told against it, the ACA defintely is a marked improvement over the status quo and over time it will be improved on and expanded as have Social Security and Medicare.
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