The GOP could be hoisting itself on its own petard, according to a poll by Quinnipiac University in Connecticut.
Researchers Nearly 1,500 voters were polled in the past week on a wide range of political issues. When it came to the question of whether shutting down the government was a good strategy to block further implementation of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, respondents decisively turned their thumbs down.
Seventy-two percent of those polled opposed shutting down the government to block Obamacare. Just 22 percent favored it.
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The tide turned almost as heavily when asked whether using the debt ceiling to block health care reform was OK with them. Of those polled, 64 percent said "no," with just 27 percent in favor of the political gambit.
The same poll showed more Americans are opposed to Obamacare, at least among those surveyed. Pollsters reported 45 percent liked Obamacare and 47 percent opposed it. But the same respondents were opposed, 58–34 percent, to Congress "cutting off funding for the health care law to stop its implementation."
The poll reported that members of the GOP support the shutdown by a slim margin (49 percent in favor vs. 44 percent opposed), but Democrats overwhelmingly oppose it (90 percent against the shutdown) and so do independents (74 percent opposed to the shutdown).
"Americans are certainly not in love with Obamacare, but they reject decisively the claim by Congressional Republicans that it is so bad that it's worth closing down the government to stop it," said Peter A. Brown, assistant director of the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute.
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Dan Cook
Dan Cook is a journalist and communications consultant based in Portland, OR. During his journalism career he has been a reporter and editor for a variety of media companies, including American Lawyer Media, BusinessWeek, Newhouse Newspapers, Knight-Ridder, Time Inc., and Reuters. He specializes in health care and insurance related coverage for BenefitsPRO.
