Recent polling shows that Americans still do not want to repeal Obamacare
I have to admit, the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare) has been taking some huge PR hits lately. A negative onslaught had been unleashed on the healthcare law by the media, especially networks like Fox and CNN. Day and night there were negative roundabout attacks against the ACA, more than just an occasional critique here or there. What I find interesting though, is the fact that in spite of all the negative press the American people have still not resolved to abandon healthcare reform.
In the aftermath of the media blitz, the public has yet to shift their attitude toward repealing the law. Conservatives and corporatist media heads have tried and tried to shift public opinion toward repealing or severely crippling the law. I couldn’t turn on CNN for more than ten minutes without hearing some negative story about Obamacare and CNN is supposed to be a more “liberal” network. Yeah right.
A recent poll done by CNN/ORC has shown that attitudes have not shifted much following the negative press due to the ACA website glitches and botched rollout. In fact the opinion on the law is actually quite entrenched and doesn’t seem to be moving much. It would seem CNN’s own audience isn’t buying their story.
The poll has shown that 40% of respondents support the healthcare law, while some 58% say they oppose the law. However, this article by Think Progress breaks down a rather different fact. At first glance it seems that the public is overwhelmingly opposed to the law, but looks can be deceiving.
As Think Progress breaks down, 14% of the 58% that opposed the law were opposed because they thought the law wasn’t liberal enough. Basically if you put it in context, 54% of the entire respondents either support the law as it stands or think it should go even further. That means a majority of Americans are in support of healthcare reform from the pre-2010 status-quo.
In some ways this poll doesn’t signify a big change. What it reveals is the fact that the American people have not abandoned healthcare reform, even though the ACA has been bombarded with negative press.
I wrote an earlier article questioning whether or not the ACA was in trouble. In the aftermath of all this negative press, the law still stands strong. Almost every challenge to the law has been smacked down in the courts and Congress, and it appears even the negative corporatist media blitz has not made much headway in public opinion. Numbers haven’t shifted much, which means that the right-wing onslaught against healthcare reform is still not making any headway despite all of its veracity.
I feel that the ACA is here to stay, and if anything the law will be expanded upon. Based on the polling breakdown, the American people are mostly in support of the efforts the ACA has undertaken, though some believe it should go farther in its endeavor. I am among those who agree it should go farther. Progressive should push harder to amend it and make it stronger. The only way the ACA fight is going away is to make it work.
