77% Support "Choice" Of A Public Option

New polling data shows once again if you ask the polling question properly, they overwhelming majority of Americans support a public option in health care reform.

A new study by SurveyUSA puts support for a public option at a robust 77 percent, one percentage point higher than where it stood in June.

But the numbers tell another story, as well.

Earlier in the week, after pollsters for NBC dropped the word "choice" from their question on a public option, they found that only 43 percent of the public were in favor of "creating a public health care plan administered by the federal government that would compete directly with private health insurance companies."

Opponents of the president's agenda jumped on the findings as evidence that backing for the public option was dropping. Proponents responded by arguing that NBC's tinkering with the language of the question (which it had also done in its July survey) had contributed to the drop in favorability for a public plan.

SurveyUSA's poll, which was commissioned by the progressive group MoveOn.org, a proponent of the public plan, gives credence to those critiques. While arguments about what type of language best describe the public option persist --"choice" is considered a trigger word that everyone naturally supports -- it seems clear that the framing of the provision goes a long way toward determining its popularity.

In asking its question SurveyUSA used the same exact words that NBC/Wall Street Journal had used when conducting its June 2009 survey. That one that found 76 percent approval for the public option: "In any health care proposal, how important do you feel it is to give people a choice of both a public plan administered by the federal government and a private plan for their health insurance--extremely important, quite important, not that important, or not at all important?"

Now think about something for a moment. If the wording of a question when polling the popularity of a public option can make a major difference then it stands to reason that the wording from people advocating for a public option will also make a huge difference on how it will be received. That is why for months now I have been saying that President Obama and other prominenet Democrats in Congress should be using the word "freedom" in association with the public option. I have no doubt in my mind that if our Democratic leaders started saying that providing a public option gives people

"the freedom to choose"

what kind of insurance they want that they would see a major bump in their approval ratings. While it is on some levels cynical to rely heavily on messaging tricks, the truth is it actually does work. The word "freedom" appeals to most Americans on a visceral level and just makes them more open to which ever proposal is offering them more of it.

Its still not too late to start injecting this into the messaging during the fight for health care reform I just don't know if they will ever do it. For the life Of me I can't understand why nobody on our side has seen this before. Everything Republicans talk about damn near begins and ends with the word freedom. This is an easy but effective way to turn that right back on them. At the very lease somebody could do it as a trial balloon to see the results. If anybody knows somebody that knows somebody that works for somebody, please pass this along.

No Excuses

Check out the average approval ratings for President Obama going state by state.

click to enlarge

To be sure, the southern states lag in his approval ratings but notice that quite a few states have his approval rating at above 60%. So then you have to ask why some of the Democratic members of Congress from those states are acting like cowards whenever one of President Obama's legislative priorities come up. He ran on a platform and he is now implementing that platform and the people are still with him. Its time for Democrats to grow a spine and follow the will of their constituents.

We can no longer give blue dogs or conservaDems a pass because they represent a traditionally red state or district. The country is turning blue and dammit our Congress needs to follow suit!

The Flip Side

Most of what you will be hearing for the next couple of days is about how President Obama's poll numbers have fallen especially when it comes to health care. And for the most part that will be true. But what you probably won't be hearing is that the Republicans' in Congress have seen their numbers fall off a cliff, especially on health care.

From The Plum Line

But the flipside of the story, which isn’t getting any real attention today, is that today’s polls also paint a dire picture for Republicans, and suggest they’re really taking it on the chin for blocking health care reform. The internals of today’s New York Times poll say this:

* Only 28% view the GOP favorably, the lowest since at least 2005.

* A huge majority wants major changes to the health care system, and a plurality says Obama is reforming health care at “the right pace.” The public wants change now, meaning voters will probably extract a major price if it doesn’t get done.

* Voters blame Republicans, and not Obama, for obstructionism: Fifty nine percent say Obama is working with the GOP on health care reform, versus only 33% who say Republicans are working with the president.

* Fifty five percent says Obama has the right ideas for health care reform, versus only 26% — barely more than one-fourth — who say the GOP does.

If President Obama is in trouble, what the hell exactly are the GOOpers in? Seems to me that this time if healthcare reform doesn't get done, the people are going to extract their pound of flesh from the Republican Party.

I Don't Care Either

GOPolitico has an article up that I refuse to link to because its so idiotic, meant to paint Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi as this unpopular and despised leader who doesn't care about the way the nation sees her. First of all her ratings are still the highest of any Congressional leader from either party. Second of all if she sticks to her guns and helps pass a progressive health care reform bill in the House I'm pretty sure most Democrats won't give a damn about her approval ratings either. At least she isn't afraid to come out and stand up for Democratic principles on the air. Tell me when you have EVER seen Harry Reid do that.

They Can't Quit Cheney

Steve Benen has a post up about a new Dan Balz column on Dick Cheney and how GOP operatives aren't exactly happy to have him out there being the face of the Republican party.

Another GOP strategist, who also spoke on the condition of anonymity, pointed out the conundrum for Republicans over the former vice president's current role. "Even if he's right, he's absolutely the wrong messenger," this strategist said. His main worry, he added, is that Cheney keeps the public focused on the past, rather than the future. "We want Bush to be a very distant memory in the next election. The more Cheney is on the front burner, the more difficult it's going to be."

It seems like we've had quite a few of these reports lately -- Cheney keeps presenting himself as the official Republican critic of the White House, and Republicans keep asking why the former vice president won't go back to his undisclosed location.

But notice one key detail: none of Cheney's GOP detractors are willing to go on the record. They want him to go away; they think he's hurting their cause; they're sure he's making Democrats happy by becoming the face of the Republican Party, but not one wants to have his or her name associated with a discouraging word.

The party may not like Cheney, but for reasons that aren't altogether clear, the party clearly fears Cheney. Until the GOP's heavy-hitters get over this, the former vice president will continue to make them look bad.

I think I can help clear this up for Mr. Benen. You see while most rational Americans loathe Dick Cheney not all of us do. Specifically there is a group of people in this country who loves Dick Cheney on almost the same level that the rest of us approve of President Obama.

You see the GOP base thinks Dick Cheney is the bees knees. That means that no matter how much he hurts Republican electoral chances they have to if not embrace him, at least tolerate him. I am sure that vexes them to no end. Oh well, sucks for them, great for us!

So Much For "Dictatorial Handshakes" And "International Apologies"

When it comes to the GOP, President Obama has pretty much become Mr. Untouchable.

For the first time in years, more Americans than not say the country is headed in the right direction, a sign that Barack Obama has used the first 100 days of his presidency to lift the public's mood and inspire hopes for a brighter future.

Intensely worried about their personal finances and medical expenses, Americans nonetheless appear realistic about the time Obama might need to turn things around, according to an Associated Press-GfK poll. It shows most Americans consider their new president to be a strong, ethical and empathetic leader who is working to change Washington.

Polling Overload

New poll results have been released today from the Washington Post, Democracy Corps, and CNN.

The upshot is that President Obama still has strong approval numbers, there has been a jump upward in the right track/wrong track polling and an overwhelming majority of Americans believe other world leaders respect him.

Republican attacks have fallen flat so far, somehow I don't think that will change anytime soon.

Somewhere Rasmussen's Head Just Exploded

From Democracy Corps

Remarkably, voters view Limbaugh negatively by a two-to-one ratio (53 to 26 percent), with nearly half the country, 45 percent, viewing him very, very negatively. Among independents, the ratio rises to three-to-one. More important are the values that Limbaugh espouses. By a nearly two-to-one ratio (57 to 32 percent) a majority of voters – and independents – say Limbaugh does not “share their values,” but Republicans are in a different world where, by two-to-one, they believe he shares them.

Voters clearly think Limbaugh is a major force in the party and indeed, a near majority of voters, 49 percent, say that Limbaugh has too much influence over Republican ideas and direction – compared to just 15 percent who say he has too little. This is happening at a time when two-thirds say “the average voter” has too little influence over the Republican Party.

(h/t Oliver Willis)

Congressional Poll Porn

How is that strategy working out for ya Congressman McHenry?

A Rare Moment Of GOP Honesty

It seems that Republican Representative Patrick McHenry has decided to let the cat out of the bag and tell America what the GOP's goals are for the country.

“We will lose on legislation. But we will win the message war every day, and every week, until November 2010,” said Rep. Patrick McHenry, R-N.C., an outspoken conservative who has participated on the GOP message teams. “Our goal is to bring down approval numbers for [Speaker Nancy] Pelosi and for House Democrats. That will take repetition. This is a marathon, not a sprint.”

Don't get me wrong, I applaud the man's honesty but I have to wonder how this message will be recieved. At a time of economic crisis in this country, with people losing their jobs and homes every day, with the price of healthcare skyrocketing and with our country addicted to foreign oil interests, the Republican Party instead of focusing on those issues are focused on bringing down the approval ratings of Congressional Democrats. Somehow I don't think the American people are going to appreciate that. But I wait with baited breath to see how the GOP tries to spin this quote as being the fault of Democrats as well.

Poll Porn

The People Have Spoken

Glenzilla dishes on a new New York Times poll showing that Americans want President Obama to stick to his policies and conversely they want Republicans to get their asses on board.

Shortly thereafter, the NYT released a new poll (.pdf) which included findings showing what Americans think about "bipartisanship" -- and it is the exact opposite of what harmony fetishists continuously claim about Americans' supposed desire for "bipartisanship." Consider, first, this question:

Which do you think should be a higher priority right now for Barack Obama -- working in a bipartisan way with the Republicans in Congress or sticking to the policies he promised he would during the campaign?

Working bipartisan way -- 39%; Sticking to policies - 56%

snip

Which do you think should be a higher priority for Republicans in Congress right now -- working in a bipartisan way with Barack Obama or sticking to Republican policies?

Working bipartisan way - 79%; Sticking to policies: 17%

That's actually an amusing result: a huge majority of Americans want Congressional Republicans to be "bipartisan," but don't want Obama to be. Overwhelmingly, then, Americans favor "bipartisanship" only to the extent that it means that Republicans support Democratic policies and abandon their own.

Now to those paying attention know this already. It seems that its only the Villagers who are stuck on this "the Republicans are winning" meme. I for one thing the proliferations of liberal and progressive blogs that shine light on just how out of touch the Village is helps to quell these kinds of counterfactual claims. One can only wonder the impact that blogs could have had on the election back in the year 2000. Its so refreshing not to have to consume news though the Villager lens which distorts what all of America wants into their own percieved biases. If we only relied on mainstream media sources most of us would be convinced that the first month of President Obama's administration had been a disaster and not only that we would believe that most of Americans felt that way. Of course not all blogs are made equal so there are at times Villager mentality expressed on the interwebs, but at least the real information is out there on the good blogs for people to find. And the truth is all of the pushback from the MSM on bloggers is really just them realizing that their reign is now effectively over. The people no longer have to spoonfed what and how we are supposed to feel about our country and our leadership. That is a great step forward for our democracy.

Poll Porn

In case you can't see it that's 67 % approval rating for President Obama's handling of the stimulus bill and a 31% approval rating for how the WingNuts Republicans are handling the stimulus bill.

That kinda shits all over the all of the pundits and even some left wing blogs who were trying to say President Obama was getting sonned doesn't it?

Yes, it really does.

"I'm Lebron baby, I can play in this league"

Barack Obama 2004



(h/t Greg Sargent)

Blagogate Shmagogate, Americans Aren't Buying It

Despite the best(worst) efforts of the RNC, FoxNews and Joe Scarborough, it turns out that not only has the Blagojevich scandal NOT hurt President Elect Barack Obama's image, but according to a new CNN poll his approval numbers actually went UP!

Eighty-two percent of those questioned in a new CNN/Opinion Research Corporation poll released Wednesday morning approve of the way the Obama is handling his presidential transition. That's up 3 points from when we asked this question at the beginning of December. Fifteen percent of those surveyed disapprove of the way Obama's handling his transition, down 3 points from our last poll.

The 82 percent approval is higher than then President-elect George W. Bush 8 years ago, who had a 65 percent transition approval rating, and Bill Clinton, at 67 percent in 1992.


"Barack Obama is having a better honeymoon with the American public than any incoming president in the past three decades. He's putting up better numbers, usually by double digits, than Bill Clinton, Ronald Reagan, or either George Bush on every item traditionally measured in transition polls," says CNN Polling Director Keating Holland.

The poll also suggests that the public approves of the President-elect's cabinet nominees, with 56 percent of those questioned saying Obama's appointments have been outstanding or above average, with 32 percent feeling the picks have been average, and 11 percent saying Obama's choices have been below average or poor.

That 56 percent figure is 18 points higher than those who said then President-elect Bush's cabinet appointments were outstanding or above average and 26 points higher than those who felt the same way about then President-elect Clinton's nominees.

Probably the most exciting aspect of the poll is that it shows that the more Republicans baselessly attack, the more the public will flock to Obama. Which makes this post exposed by kos on the National Review Online website even more insightful:

Rod Blagojevich, $1 trillion "fiscal stimulus", Harry Reid, expiring tax cuts, Nancy Pelosi, socialized health care, Charlie Rangel, reinstitution of the oil drilling ban, Joe Biden, liberal judicial nominees, Al Franken (maybe), nuclear Iran, John Murtha, car czars, Dennis Kucinich, PC culture, Chris Dodd, entitlement explosion, Barney Frank, entitlement implosion, Barbara Boxer, card check, the Clintons, Russian adventurism.

If Republicans can't come back in 2010 they should be sued for political malpractice.

Notice how the NRO poster never mentions anything having to do with Republicans solving problems. He is still holding hard and fast to that notion that all Republicans have to do is attack Democrats on big government and corruption issues and the country will just be handed back to them. Well I say more power to him. Please keep up the attacks, lies, and smears. Obviously they have worked so well for you over the last two election cycles.

But back to the numbers, who would have thought that a man who was being framed as a Marxist, Socialist, babykiller just a little more than a month ago would now be enjoying the support of over 80% of Americans? Its a testament to the way Obama has run his ship, both before the election and after, that he has obviously won a lot of his earlier detractors over. Thats not to say that he will keep the high approval rating after taking office, but at least its an indication that people are wiling to give him a fair chance IMHO. And thats definitely a step in the right direction for the country.


Keep handling it YOUR way Mr. President Elect