Obamacare has lost the uninsured. A Wall Street Journal/NBC News poll released this week asked uninsured individuals whether or not they thought the law was a good idea. Just 24 percent said they thought it was. In contrast, half the uninsured polled said they thought it was a bad idea. As the Journal points out, that represents an 11 point drop in support for the law amongst the uninsured since September. The same poll also finds that 56 percent of the uninsured believe the law will have a negative effect on the U.S. health care system. Let that sink in: What that means is that regardless of how bad the old system—the system that for whatever reason left them uninsured—was, a majority of people without health coverage now think that Obamacare makes it worse.
One of the Left’s go-to talking points during the Obamacare sell job (second only, perhaps, to the lie of the year) was to invoke the plight of “46 million” uninsured Americans — a figure that was mendaciously inflated for political reasons. According to the NBC/WSJ poll mentioned above, Obamacare is now opposed by a majority of very population for whom it was ostensibly passed. Fifty-six percent of uninsured respondents said the law will have a negative effect on the US healthcare system as a whole, compared to just 20 percent who anticipate a net positive impact. Flashback to December 3rd:
“My main message today is, ‘We’re not going back,’” Obama said. “That seems to be the only alternative that Obamacare’s critics have.”
Here, the president regurgitates a lie about the supposed dearth of conservative alternatives on healthcare reform (paging Dr. Price), and steadfastly assures his audience that he won’t permit a return to the bad old days. Not on his watch. But according to a new Reason/Rupe poll, Americans would actually prefer to turn back the clock — by a 21-point margin:
These results are virtually identical to the findings of a Fox News national survey taken in May. Back, not forward!
Exit question (Allahpundit™): Do the NBC/WSJ numbers include, um, Obamacare’s newly uninsured?
