US: National Survey (CNN 12/16-20)
Emily Swanson | December 21, 2009
US: National Survey (CNN 12/16-20)
CNN / Opinion Research Corporation
12/16-20/09; 1,160 adults, 3% margin of error
Mode: Live telephone interviews
(CNN release)
National
Obama Job Approval
54% Approve, 44% Disapprove (chart)
Regardless of whether you approve or disapprove of Barack Obama, do you think he has met your expectations for how he would handle his job as president, or has he exceeded your expectations, or has he fallen short of your expectations?
39% Met, 11% Exceeded, 48% Fallen short
In general, do you hope that Barack Obama's policies will succeed or do you hope that his policies will fail?
71% Succeed, 22% Fail
And in general, do you think it is more likely that Obama's policies will succeed or more likely that his policies will fail?
52% Succeed, 41% Fail
As you may know, the U.S. Senate is considering a bill that would make major changes in the country's health care system. Based on what you have read or heard about that bill, do you
generally favor it or generally oppose it?
42% Favor, 56% Oppose (chart)
If oppose: Do you oppose that bill because you think its approach toward health care is too liberal, or because you think its approach toward health care is not liberal enough? (results combined with previous question)
42% Favor
39% Oppose, Too liberal
13% Oppose, Not liberal enough
Thinking about the health care and health insurance that is available to most Americans, do you think the proposals in the Senate bill would change things for the better, change things for the worse, or not make any real changes at all?
34% Change for the better, 38% Change for the worse, 26% No change
Thinking about the health care and health insurance that is available to you and your immediate family, do you think the proposals in the Senate bill would change things for the better, change things for the worse, or not make any real changes at all?
22% Change for the better, 37% Change for the worse, 39% No change
By Emily Swanson | December 21, 2009 1:02 PM | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBacks (0)
Comments
Some interesting questions indeed, including the infamous Rush Limbaugh question; do you want Obama to succeed or fail.
Those who self-identify as Republicans are in the mid 20s; the 22% here who hope Obama "fails" dovetails pretty well with self-identifying Repubs; I doubt many independents want Obama to fail.
I wish CNN released cross-tabs. I have no idea whether the previous week's dip and this week's bounce (when you compare week by week in their Release PDF) is related to sample or sentiment. I'd like to know if, perhaps, the knowledge that people like Ben Nelson and Lieberman are on board makes people feel that this bill isn't some crazy liberal spending spree.
It's also significant that, all told, those who think the bill is too liberal are outnumbered by those who think either the opposite or those who support the bill. Those progressives and liberals who feel the bill's too conservative shouldn't be ignored, but I don't think they'll vote Republican come November...trouble is they may not vote.
That's why I'd like to see the Medicare buy-in provision for 55+ or even 50+ as Liberman had once (upon a time) advocated; this to be done as a separate bill begun immediately in the House and passed through reconciliation in the Senate. It will be immensely popular with the public and it makes sense to take care of a less healthy pool. It can even start out as a full-premium buy-in. At 8k/yr for a 55 yr old (the approximate cost of an equivalent plan) Medicare would be a bargain. Those people are subject to much higher premiums now because of the risk group their in
Way to go CNN. This is the best poll question on health care since this whole thing started. This poll delineates those who oppose because they feel the bill doesn't go far enough liberally (Either it didn't have a strong public option, medicare buy-in, etc) and those who think the status quo is better or not conservative enough (largely republicans and far right conservatives). That's why a prez should not make policy based on polls alone because in many cases, the poll questions are framed to achieve a certain political outcome, giiving a certain group talking points, etc. If I'm right, before Medicare was passed, it had about 28% approval and what do we see or what do the polls say today about Medicare.
What this poll is telling us is that without the public option (the only item with the strongest support), the whole legislation is not fait accompli. I'm hoping that in the not distant future maybe before or after 2010, a public option would be passed via reconciliation. It's only a hope.
Posted on December 21, 2009 1:34 PM