ACA Gets Small Popularity Boost Following Court Decision

The GOP Push to Opt-Out of Medicaid Expansion Begins »

ACA Gets Small Popularity Boost Following Court Decision
By: Jon Walker Monday July 2, 2012 9:12 am	Tweet

There are some early signs that the Supreme Court finding the Affordable Care Act constitutional has modestly improved its image with the public. A new Reuter-Ipsos poll found that support for the law increased by five points following the favorable ruling.

Among registered voters in the poll, support for the law is now at 48 percent. This is a improvement from the 43 percent support the law received in their poll before the decision. Similarly, opposition to the law also dropped by five points, from 57 percent before the ruling to 52 percent now.

This is just one early poll, so it is too soon to know if the law’s popularity has actually improved some as a result of the Court’s decision or if this is just fluctuations from a single pollster. We need to wait for more polling to know for sure if the Court ruling really impacted the law’s popularity and whether this is just a temporary bump driven by the news.

It is easy, though, to picture how the Court officially declaring that law constitutional could cause at least a small subset of people’s opinion of the law to improve. It did refute one of the previous talking points against the ACA; that it is an unconstitutional expansion of federal power. Now the arguments against the law are only about it being bad policy, but no longer about it being unconstitutional bad policy.

That said even after the favorable ruling the law still has more people who oppose it than support it. The Court may have made it less unpopular, but it still isn’t popular. Which is why Democrats seem to be trying to move on from the issue quickly.

4 Comments

4 Responses to “ACA Gets Small Popularity Boost Following Court Decision”

DWBartoo July 2nd, 2012 at 10:33 am

“Which is why Democrats seem to be trying to move on from the issue quickly.”

Tell me Jon, you are, clearly, a political analyst, so, as an analyst, if you were working for the Dems, and obviously wanted them to win, your future paychecks depending upon victory, would you not advise the Dems to move away as quickly as political “decorum” would permit?

The “logic” of the political class would seem to demand this sort of “distancing” even though it does not, cannot, and will not consider the actual implications for real human beings.

In other words, if most people do not “like” a thing, then perhaps, just perhaps, there is an actual reason, or reasons, for that “dislike.

So, the Dems quick removal of themselves from close proximity to a “thing” ought, so it seems to me, cause at least some of them to think about the deeper reasons why the thing is not “liked”… rather than embracing “practical”, political expediency … for such the “leave-taking” must certainly be interpreted as being, wouldn’t you say?

Does it seem that there is a “disconnect” between the “interests” of the political class, in this case the Dems, and what the people do not like, especially as this “difference” in priorities is about something VERY important to the people … about something that the people actually need?

And is it not also evident that the people have determined that this “thing” does NOT serve their needs or interests but those of yet another “group”?

Frankly, is the desire for “distance” not so much a reflection of astute political insight … as a tacit admission of political failure and moral cowardice?

That is, if we are concerned about the true nature of things and NOT their superficial “appearance” as it suits a portion of the political class, including, of course, the “interests” of the media, who are also part of the political class?

Were the media NOT a part of the political class would they not be asking questions quite similar to those which I have posed?

Questions which certainly need asking as well as deserving consideration and even … answers?

Ah, well …