Overall Reaction to Passing the Healthcare Bill:
- 49% of adults said the passage of healthcare was a good thing, compared to 40% saying it was a bad thing. 11% had no opinion.
- As expected, a majority of the Democrats polled (79%) said the passage was a good thing, and a majority of the Republicans polled (76%) said it was a bad thing.
- Independents were deeply divided on the issue, with 46% saying it was a good thing, 45% saying it was a bad thing, and 10% holding no opinion
Emotional Reaction to Passing the Healthcare Bill:
- 50% of national adults are either enthusiastic or pleased about the bill's passage
- 42% of national adults are either disappointed or angry about the bill's passage
- 8% of national adults hold no opinion
- Democratic and Republican skews are as predicted (Democrats more pleased, Republicans more disappointed)
- The curve for Independents, however, is interesting: 10% are enthusiastic, 35% are pleased, 27% are disappointed, 20% are angry, and 9% have no opinion. Although the highest percentage are pleased, Independents are twice as likely to be angry than enthusiastic, which is interesting.
One of the most interesting observances from the second poll is that only about a third of national adults polled felt strongly about the passage of the bill (15% enthusiastic, 19% angry). Given all the national hype about healthcare and all the fierce political debate going on in Washington, you would think Americans would be more passionate about the bill.
I also found it interesting that most of those who oppose healthcare do so because of supposed rising costs of insurance (20%), the bill does not address the real problems (19%), and because they need more clarity on how the system would work (9%). The last point is completely bogus; there have been plenty of explanations out there deconstructing the bill to help the public understand its provisions, so if you don't want healthcare because you're too lazy to read an article explaining it, then I don't know what to say to you. Regarding the second point, I think this bill's a start, and a good one at that. Would you reject a helping of icing because you can't get the cake all at once? And regarding the first point...well, that's why insurance is now mandatory for everyone: to keep costs down, because now insurance companies actually have to cover people who are sick. Also, a main reason the bill was proposed in the first place was to keep costs down; insurance was not getting any cheaper, and people have been seeing their premiums rise all year.
So, what are your opinions? Where do you fit in on these Gallup polls? And why do you think the polls turned out the way they did?
