CNN Poll - Senate Health Care Reform Bill - Too Liberal? Not Liberal Enough?

[TomCADem]

Here is an interesting poll from CNN. It appears that Nate Silver may be right. 42 percent of people support the bill. 39 percent oppose the bill as being too liberal. 13 percent oppose the bill for not being liberal enough.

http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2009/images/12/21/rel19a.pdf

QUESTIONS 20 AND 21 COMBINED
Dec. 16-20
2009
Favor (from Q.20) 42%
Oppose, too liberal 39%
Oppose, not liberal enough 13%
Other (vol.) 2%
No opinion 4%

[HughMoran]

1. What did Nate say?

Something to the effect that if combined the disapprove from the left (not liberal enough) and favor that it's a majority?

[Hello_Kitty]

9. Except that those 12-15% are in the "disapprove" column

Regardless of how you and Nate try to spin it.

[karynnj]

17. True, but the point is that those against it from the left want something different than

those on the right. In addition, the left will not (en masse) desert the Democratic party. It is also likely that once passed, Obama will then be more able to sell it.

[OHdem10]

2. Was this the usual groups which are heavily Republican.

This shows the sheer ignorance of the participants.

This is a bill rewarding Big Business. The GOP is the party
of Big Business.

Chris Wallace Anchor Fox News. If the present Senate Bill had
been the first thing the Republicans saw in the beginning,
it would have had Republican votes.

[stevenleser]

4. This is proof of my theory. The GOP out-hustled all of us on this one.

That includes the administration, congressional Democrats and the Democratic grass roots.

They out-hustled us with money and mobilized idiots to spread the lies. We moved too slow to counter the lies and that is the reason why we are where we are.

[sandnsea]

3. But it also has the House bill as too liberal

So either the media spin has worked very well, or people don't know what the hell they want.

[Lasher]

5. People don't know what is in this bill.

Many of us here do, but we're political junkies. People won't think it's too liberal once they realize what it actually does. For example, the impact on 'gold plated' employee and retiree medical benefits.

[scubadude]

6. They used the word "Liberal", we all know that is a dirty word...

Thanks to over 40 years of concerted Republican, big business, and right wing media control.

Picture if they were asking questions like,

Do you wish the bill was more like a public option?
Do you wish the bill was less like a public option?

Do you wish the bill were more like the people who ran our country into the ground during the last administration?
Do you wish the bill were less like the people who ran our country into the ground during the last administration?

We need to fight back on the perception of the term "liberal". We need to make people want to retch when they hear the words Republicon and CONservative. We need to regain the hearts and minds of our fellow man. If we don't fight them in this arena, we will lose in the long run.

Scuba

[Azathoth]

7. That sounds about right

The GOP/conservative movement has about 40% of the country locked in, come Hell or high water. Ideologically-driven Progressives, socialists, and other assorted Leftists make up around 12%-15%. The rest of the country are moderates of one form or another.

[Hello_Kitty]

8. I love how supporters try to turn the majority of people opposing the bill

To a majority supporting it. 52% of Americans oppose the bill. 42% support it. That's a problem.

[Blasphemer]

10. I wish they would have broken down the opinion of those who "favor"

If those who favor it would still favor it if it were stronger, then it could be argued that a stronger bill would have 55% support. However, if any percentage of those who favor it would NOT favor a stronger bill, then the argument doesn't work.

[Armstead]

11. Good point --- How about "Support but wish it was better?

[patrice]

12. CNN didn't establish what, if anything, any of the respondents KNOW about HCR.

How can their opposition or support mean anything unless they know what they are talking about?

[LibDemAlways]

18. Yep. No indication that the bill was explained to the respondents.

I would imagine the numbers will be very different once Americans get wind of what's in this thing - particularly the mandate.

[quakerboy]

19. To be fair, how many of them will know more the next time they go to vote?

A lot of voters dont know much. But they still vote. So ones knowledge of the inner workings of the bill is relatively unimportant to whether they like it or not, unless you have a plan on how to better inform them. And given right wing domination of the broadcast arena, there will likely be a lot more disinformation than information publicly disseminated.

[SpartanDem]

13. Most people have no clue about the bills details

even on DU I see people regulary get basic details wrong so you can only imagine how unimformed people who don't deeply follow politics are about this issue.

[goclark]

14. There should be an Elementary School Version

of the Bill for all of us.

I saw something on DU that was close but I mean with a reading level of about 4 grade and in big letters.

Of the people that I talk to ~ few really understand it and most attended college.

Now that Newspapers are not happily read by a core group, the internet and sound bites give us the "News."

I get shaky when I see the shows that are "fair and balanced" and notice the slant that is taken for certain guests.

These "guests" need a sign on that shows their real colors.

Usually they will have at least one Repub that is African American, like me.

America has been trained to think that most African Americans are Democrats but.... Bingo! Nope, it's a "Lil Mickey Steele moment and many Americans were tricked again.

Who do we trust to give us honest ABC/123 TRUTH about the Bill?

[Bluenorthwest]

15. Um, what was wrong with a direct question?

Too liberal or too conservative?
What's with using liberal and 'not liberal' as opposed to the word conservative? I guess they were trying to get someplace, as opposed to find out something.
It is one hell of a strange phrasing. How about 'would you have preferred a single payer plan to the Senate Bill'?

[Tom Rinaldo]

16. That's a lot of Liberals opposing it

This is a poll of the whole population, not just Democrats, and most Democrats start out wanting to support Obama on this. That 39% opposing as too Liberal includes the entire rag tag tea party movement and the entire Republican establishment.