Oh my: 68% now oppose passing ObamaCare without Republican support

There’s no trendline in the AP’s story so let’s see if we can make our own. Two weeks ago, Gallup found a 39/52 split opposed to reconciliation; on the same day, Fox News found just 34 percent wanted Obama to pass the bill without GOP support versus 59 percent who thought he should start over if no compromise was possible. Since then, The One’s mumbled about the Olympic spirit, declared — for maybe the fifth time since last year — that the time for talk was over, and hit the road to demand an “up or down” vote on a bill that the public hates because he owes that to the public.

Looks like his hard work paid off. The needle appears to have moved.

A new Associated Press-GfK Poll finds a widespread hunger for improvements to the health care system, which suggests President Barack Obama and his Democratic allies have a political opening to push their plan. Half of all Americans say health care should be changed a lot or “a great deal,” and only 4 percent say it shouldn’t be changed at all…

More than four in five Americans say it’s important that any health care plan have support from both parties. And 68 percent say the president and congressional Democrats should keep trying to cut a deal with Republicans rather than pass a bill with no GOP support…

Many of his allies are baffled, because Americans clearly want change, and some of the individual components of the Democrats’ health care agenda seem popular. Moreover, the public has not embraced the Republicans’ overall approach to legislating, giving lower approval ratings to GOP lawmakers than to Democrats, although both parties fare badly.

Just 27 percent want Democrats to ram it through. Do note that the question here is slightly different than in the Gallup and Fox News polls. Theoretically, the AP’s sample might support reconciliation eventually, if further attempts at compromise with the GOP failed. But that’s academic: There aren’t going to be any further attempts, and frankly I’m skeptical that many who oppose reconciliation now would come around to it down the line. After nine months of this garbage, who seriously believes that just a little more effort at detente will break the impasse? If you don’t want them to go it alone now, you don’t want them to go it alone period, so wavering Dems will simply have to swallow that 68-percent figure. Good luck, kids.

Exit question: Just 24 percent of Democrats are “very enthusiastic” to vote in November compared to 42 percent of Republicans. If this travesty passes, which figure will see more movement? Remember, the left is counting on ObamaCare to goose turnout.

Update: Scott Rasmussen and Douglas Schoen ponder why Obama can’t move the numbers on health care. Can’t he? They seem to have moved here.

One reason may be that he keeps talking about details of the proposal while voters are looking at the issue in a broader context. Polling conducted earlier this week shows that 57% of voters believe that passage of the legislation would hurt the economy, while only 25% believe it would help. That makes sense in a nation where most voters believe that increases in government spending are bad for the economy…

But the bigger problem is that people simply don’t trust the official projections. People in Washington may live and die by the pronouncements of the Congressional Budget Office, but 81% of voters say it’s likely the plan will end up costing more than projected. Only 10% say the official numbers are likely to be on target…

The final piece of the puzzle is that the overwhelming majority of voters have insurance coverage, and 76% rate their own coverage as good or excellent. Half of these voters say it’s likely that if the congressional health bill becomes law, they would be forced to switch insurance coverage—a prospect hardly anyone ever relishes. These numbers have barely moved for months: Nothing the president has said has reassured people on this point.

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