Obamacare is more popular than ever among independent voters, jumping a huge 11 points in the days after the Supreme Court ruled the Affordable Care Act is constitutional.
A new Reuters/Ipsos poll, taken June 28 – 30 of 991 Americans, finds 38% approval with independents, up from only 27% just days prior to the ruling. Overall, 48% of registered voters now approve of Obamacare, and opposition among those who do not favor the health care law dropped by five percentage points, to 52%.
Hidden in these numbers, however, is the percent of Americans who oppose Obamacare because it did not go far enough. Historically, that averages around 25%, which in theory would push support for universal healthcare, a single-payer system, Medicare for all, or the current plan, aka Obamacare, to a majority of Americans.
“This is a win for Obama. This is his bill. There’s not really any doubt in people’s minds, that it belongs to him,” said Julia Clark, vice president at Ipsos Public Affairs. “It’s his baby. It’s literally been labeled ‘Obamacare’ … which maybe it works in his favor now that there’s a little bit of a victory dance going on.”
But the Huffington Post notes:
In some good news for Republicans, the Supreme Court ruling is energizing opposition to the 2010 healthcare law.
In the new poll, more than half of all registered voters – 53 percent – said they were more likely to vote for their member of Congress if he were running on a platform calling for repeal, up from 46 percent before the ruling.
“This is galvanizing both sides,” Clark said.
Obama’s Republican challenger, Mitt Romney, has made it clear that he will run against “Obamacare.” Within hours of the Supreme Court’s ruling, the former Massachusetts governor asked voters to throw Obama out of office to get rid of the law, which he promises to repeal and replace if he wins the White House in November.