Wednesday, September 2, 2009

August's "Raucus Caucuses" Seem to Have Had Little Effect on Public Opinion (9/2)

Two newly released polls suggest that the vigorous (some would say "over the top") protests at congressional lawmakers' August town hall meetings have done little to change public opinion.

The Pew Center's poll report, in fact, contains a section entitled "Health Care Opinions Largely Unchanged." Regarding the health care reforms being considered in Congress (as a general proposition), the numbers from the August 20-27 polling (39% favor, 46% opposed) are virtually identical to those obtained from July 22-26 (38% favor, 44% opposed). Not all the news is negative for the Democrats, however, as more people (39%) now think reform would be better for the country than worse (33%).

Among the many items in the Ipsos-McClatchy poll, the following one on the public option, for example, shows very similar support from July 9-13 (52% support) to August 27-31 (49% support):

It is necessary to create a public health insurance plan to make sure that all Americans have access to quality healthcare.

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