Politics

Voters Don’t Like Obamacare, And Probably Never Will

Font Size:

Two months before midterm elections, Obamacare has the disapproval of a majority of registered voters — just above its all-time low level of support, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation’s latest tracking poll. 

Four years after its passage, the health-care law’s stagnant unpopularity is unlikely to change anytime soon. Republicans and independents continue to staunchly oppose Obamacare, heavily outweighing supportive Democrats in overall numbers and in intensity. Forty-nine percent of registered voters now view Obamacare unfavorably, and even worse, 51 percent of likely voters disapprove of it, compared to just 35 percent that support the health-care law.

Pure independents are twice as likely to dislike candidates that voted for Obamacare than they are to favor them, according to Kaiser’s September tracking poll. Across all independent voters, 46 percent say they’d be more likely to vote for a candidate that voted to repeal Obamacare, not simply fix it.

Unlike the 2010 midterm elections, Obamacare isn’t the most motivating factor for voters this time. Kaiser found that the economy and jobs are the most commonly cited motivating factor for registered voters, while health care was number two. So despite the public’s longstanding opposition, Obamacare probably won’t be the deciding factor in many races this year. Especially with another two years with Obamacare’s namesake in the White House, voters don’t expect significant change to (or repeal of) the status quo, according to political expert Charlie Cook.

It’s not that the furor over Obamacare has diminished, Cook said at a KFF panel Tuesday, the conversation has “just sort of evolved.” Now that Obamacare’s been law for years, they’re more resigned to its existence.

“They don’t like it, but they don’t think it’s going to be relitigated,” Cook concluded, in line with Kaiser’s poll results — 63 percent of voters now favor making fixes to the law, rather than repealing it entirely.

And that’s playing out in campaigns nationally. Republicans are lumping in Obamacare and the Obama administration’s constant unilateral changes to the law with other examples of executive overreach, particularly in Iowa, according to Des Moines Register columnist Kathie Obradovich.

Meanwhile, Democrats have largely given up on promoting personal stories about how Obamacare has benefited individuals and are still trying to avoid talking about the health-care law. “They just don’t want to talk about it,” Obradovich said Tuesday.

Even when they do try to play up the individual parts of Obamacare the public supports, such as pre-existing conditions regulations, Democrats can’t escape the constant antipathy to Obamacare. Arkansas Democratic Sen. Mark Pryor made the first pro-Obamacare ad in a competitive race just last month — without even mentioning the Affordable Care Act’s name. Pryor cited “a law” he helped pass instead. (RELATED: Finally, A Democrat Runs A Pro-Obamacare Ad — But Won’t Even Say The Law’s Name)

That might be the best option at this point. Public support for Obamacare was at its highest when it passed in 2010, according to Kaiser’s monthly tracking polls, but it’s languished below 40 percent approval for a full two years.

Follow Sarah on Twitter

Tags : obamacare
Sarah Hurtubise

PREMIUM ARTICLE: Subscribe To Keep Reading

Sign up

By subscribing you agree to our Terms of Use

You're signed up!

Sign up

By subscribing you agree to our Terms of Use

You're signed up!
Sign up

By subscribing you agree to our Terms of Use

You're signed up!

Sign up

By subscribing you agree to our Terms of Use

You're signed up!
Sign up

By subscribing you agree to our Terms of Use

You're signed up!

Sign Up

By subscribing you agree to our Terms of Use

You're signed up!
Sign up

By subscribing you agree to our Terms of Use

You're signed up!
Sign up

By subscribing you agree to our Terms of Use

You're signed up!
BENEFITS READERS PASS PATRIOTS FOUNDERS
Daily and Breaking Newsletters
Daily Caller Shows
Ad Free Experience
Exclusive Articles
Custom Newsletters
Editor Daily Rundown
Behind The Scenes Coverage
Award Winning Documentaries
Patriot War Room
Patriot Live Chat
Exclusive Events
Gold Membership Card
Tucker Mug

What does Founders Club include?

Tucker Mug and Membership Card
Founders

Readers,

Instead of sucking up to the political and corporate powers that dominate America, The Daily Caller is fighting for you — our readers. We humbly ask you to consider joining us in this fight.

Now that millions of readers are rejecting the increasingly biased and even corrupt corporate media and joining us daily, there are powerful forces lined up to stop us: the old guard of the news media hopes to marginalize us; the big corporate ad agencies want to deprive us of revenue and put us out of business; senators threaten to have our reporters arrested for asking simple questions; the big tech platforms want to limit our ability to communicate with you; and the political party establishments feel threatened by our independence.

We don't complain -- we can't stand complainers -- but we do call it how we see it. We have a fight on our hands, and it's intense. We need your help to smash through the big tech, big media and big government blockade.

We're the insurgent outsiders for a reason: our deep-dive investigations hold the powerful to account. Our original videos undermine their narratives on a daily basis. Even our insistence on having fun infuriates them -- because we won’t bend the knee to political correctness.

One reason we stand apart is because we are not afraid to say we love America. We love her with every fiber of our being, and we think she's worth saving from today’s craziness.

Help us save her.

A second reason we stand out is the sheer number of honest responsible reporters we have helped train. We have trained so many solid reporters that they now hold prominent positions at publications across the political spectrum. Hear a rare reasonable voice at a place like CNN? There’s a good chance they were trained at Daily Caller. Same goes for the numerous Daily Caller alumni dominating the news coverage at outlets such as Fox News, Newsmax, Daily Wire and many others.

Simply put, America needs solid reporters fighting to tell the truth or we will never have honest elections or a fair system. We are working tirelessly to make that happen and we are making a difference.

Since 2010, The Daily Caller has grown immensely. We're in the halls of Congress. We're in the Oval Office. And we're in up to 20 million homes every single month. That's 20 million Americans like you who are impossible to ignore.

We can overcome the forces lined up against all of us. This is an important mission but we can’t do it unless you — the everyday Americans forgotten by the establishment — have our back.

Please consider becoming a Daily Caller Patriot today, and help us keep doing work that holds politicians, corporations and other leaders accountable. Help us thumb our noses at political correctness. Help us train a new generation of news reporters who will actually tell the truth. And help us remind Americans everywhere that there are millions of us who remain clear-eyed about our country's greatness.

In return for membership, Daily Caller Patriots will be able to read The Daily Caller without any of the ads that we have long used to support our mission. We know the ads drive you crazy. They drive us crazy too. But we need revenue to keep the fight going. If you join us, we will cut out the ads for you and put every Lincoln-headed cent we earn into amplifying our voice, training even more solid reporters, and giving you the ad-free experience and lightning fast website you deserve.

Patriots will also be eligible for Patriots Only content, newsletters, chats and live events with our reporters and editors. It's simple: welcome us into your lives, and we'll welcome you into ours.

We can save America together.

Become a Daily Caller Patriot today.

Signature

Neil Patel