Poll: Numbers On Obama’s Approach To Health Care And Personal Ratings Go South

Barack Obama’s poll numbers on health care and his approval ratings are moving south just as assuredly as elderly New Yorkers go south to Florida for the winter, NBC News reports:

Despite his public-relations blitz over the past two weeks to promote his plans to reform the nation’s health-care system — including holding two town halls on Wednesday — President Barack Obama has lost ground on this issue with the American public, according to the latest NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll.

Pluralities now say that the president’s health care plan is a bad idea, and that it will result in the quality of their care getting worse. What’s more, just four in 10 approve of his handling on the issue.

The poll also finds that Obama’s overall job-approval rating has dropped to 53 percent. And it shows a public that has grown increasingly concerned about the federal government’s spending as the administration defends its $787 billion economic stimulus and supports a $1 trillion-plus health-care bill.

And here are two important “nut graphs” in this poll story:

“This is a president who needs a vacation,” says Democratic pollster Peter D. Hart, who conducted the survey with Republican pollster Bill McInturff. “His job rating is … certainly an acceptable mark. But if you look at it over time, it has [gone] south without a doubt.”

Overexposure? Is being so visible and candid giving the modern news cycle and “noise machines” plenty of material and openings — even if some of the assertions (that health care reform means the government will decide if you live and die) have more baloney that the meat department at CostCo?

And then there’s this:

The good news for Obama, however, is that he remains the most popular politician in country, and Democrats continue to lead Republicans in the handling of several key issues, although the GOP has gained ground from a year ago.

Which suggests: the electorate is starting to lose faith in the efficacy of both parties.
But one poll does not a trend make. As we’ve noted often here, it’s important what more than one poll says — the trends.

And that also is not good news for Obama or his health care plan:

President Obama’s ability to shape the debate on health care appears to be eroding as opponents aggressively portray the effort as a government-takeover that could limit Americans’ ability to chose their doctor and course of treatment, according to the latest New York Times/CBS News poll.

Americans are concerned that overhauling the health care system would reduce the quality of their care, increase their out-of-pocket health costs and tax bills and limit their options in choosing doctors, treatment and tests, the poll found. The percentage who describe health care costs as a serious threat to the American economy — a central argument being made by Mr. Obama — has dropped over the past month.

Mr. Obama continues to benefit from strong support for the basic goal of revamping the health care system, and he is seen as far more likely than Congressional Republicans to have the best ideas to accomplish that. But reflecting a problem that has afflicted attempts to bring major changes to health care for decades, Americans expressed considerable unease about what the result would mean for them on an individual basis.

Some specific findings:

*66 percent were concerned that they might eventually lose their insurance if the government doesn’t come up with a new health care system.

*Obama is seen as having a better idea on how to change healthare than GOPers in Congress — by 55 to 26 percent. And 59 percent felt Obama was trying to work with Republicans — while only 33 percent said Republicans were trying to work with Obama on this issue.

BUT:

In one finding, 75 percent of respondents said they were concerned that the cost of their own health care cost would go up if the government did not create a system of providing health care for all Americans. But 77 percent said they were concerned the cost of health care would go up if the government did create such a system.

The bottom line: The deal is far from closed — and with tepid numbers like this the original vision of public healthcare reform outlined by many Democrats seems far from certain. Most likely to emerge: some kind of plan that involved big compromises on each side. The key question will then be: which side gave up more? And the side that gave up more will face some angry partisans on their own side.

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