by Mark Silva
There were more Democrats than Republicans watching the president's televised speech to Congress on health care last night, and they generally liked what they heard and saw - that's the first take from a fast, independent survey run of speech-viewers.
But then, some of the instant Republican reaction to President Barack Obama's rare speech to a joint session of Congress dismissed it as "partisan'.''
Even after the president went out of his way to embrace some Republican causes, such as a pilot demonstration project for alternatives to lawsuits in medical malpractice cases -- "tort reform,'' in the mantra of supporters --and insurance for those suffering catastrophic illnesses ( a campaign cause of Obama's Republican rival, Sen. John McCain, in last year's elections, with Obama saluting McCain for it last night and McCain responding with a smile and thumbs-up from the floor of the House chambers - before going on to later call Obama's address partisan.)
And Rep. Joe Wilson, the South Carolina Republican who accused the president of lying from the floor of the House -- later apologizing for his "lack of civility'' -- probably has made an instant household hero of himself in the homes of those who tuned out the speech or didn't like what they were hearing. The congressman apparently thought he was attending one of those summer town-hall meetings.
The home audience was partisan, as expected - the Pew Research Center had found beforehand that many more Democrats than Republicans planned to watch the prime-time address, and a CNN/Opinion Research survey last night found that to be the case:
The survey of 427 adults who watched the speech - as they had told pollsters beforehand that they would - found that 45 percent of the speech-viewing public surveyed identified themselves as Democrats, 18 percent Republicans, 37 percent independents.
Most said they had a very positive reaction to the speech, overall: 56 percent. Another one in five had a somewhat positive reaction, and only one in five had a very negative or somewhat negative response. The margin of error is 5 percentage points.
And, as such, 70 percent of those surveyed said the policies the president is proposing will move the country in the right direction, in this survey of, well, largely Democrats.
Which returns the president to the reality of the health-care debate at hand:
He has a lot more friends among Democratic ranks than he does among Republican ranks -- and he's having trouble among Democrats as well (House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's face could not hide her rolling stomach as the president gave away the "public option'' in his plan as only one of many options to be debaged in tthe weeks ahead.)
There's a good chance that every Republican in the House could vote against the health-care bill that ultimately reaches the floor there, with some Democrats joining them. There's a strong likelihood that very few Republicans in the Senate will support it - and the Democrats will need a few to avert a 40-vote blockade there.
The larger question remains: Whether the president has accomplished anything in a broader way to make more Americans comfortable with the plans he is proposing.
"The time for games has passed,'' Obama said last night, "the season for action'' upon us.
Yet somehow, the president's speech, judging from initial reviews the morning after, doesn't feel like a game-changer.
CNN , USA Today and the Gallup Poll ran a similar instant survey after President Bill Clinton's big congressional speech on health care in 1993 - and two thirds of those surveyed said they favored Clinton's plan for reform. That, too, involved a small sampling of viewers, and not necessarily a representative crowd of Americans.
The fuller public reaction remains to be gauged.
Comments
For all you folks that think the Congress has this great federal plan - look at the quote from Socialist Senator Bernie Sanders from the Lou Dobbs Show when asked if he would give up his congressional insurance for the public plan
" If the public option were there and was better for me than the Blue Cross/Blue Shield I have right now, I certainly would take it."
So, is the great Congressional plan actually run by a mean, evil insurance company?
http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0909/08/ldt.01.html
Posted by: Terry | September 10, 2009 8:51 AM
CNN packs its survey audience with Democrats, then proclaims ObamaCare popular!
I mean, 45-18?????? Does any Obama supporter, even Mark Silva, take that seriously?
I think it telling that CNN "fixed" its own survey in order to insure its man Obama came out ahead.....
Posted by: Bruce | September 10, 2009 9:21 AM
President Obama' speech just missed being a grand slam, but it sure was a prodigious home run. How else can you account for the opposition being true to their natures and acting like petulant children. They are still pouting about losing the last presidential election.
President Obama's outline was right on the nose, healthcare reform should not be used to scare citizens, particularly the more vulnerable, the underinsured and the sick. I think we can all agree to that civil proposition or is that unacceptable by the opposition, as well !! My hope, for this country, and for the opposition parties, is that we can work together and help President Obama in his quest for true healthcare reform. America and all of her citizens need at least that from this good country.
SUPPORT OUR TROOPS, BRING THEM HOME, ALIVE AND WHOLE. NOW.
Posted by: Don Fitzgerald, IL | September 10, 2009 10:00 AM
MediaCurves.com just conducted a national study with 951 viewers of President Barack Obama’s speech to Congress in which he focused on his plan for healthcare reform. Results showed that more than half of all political parties reported that the speech was “somewhat or extremely effective. The study also found that the majority of Democrats reported that they have a better perception of healthcare reform after viewing Obama’s speech, while Republicans’ perceptions are relatively unchanged and Independents were split on their reactions to the speech. More in-depth results can be viewed at http://www.mediacurves.com/Politics/J7550-HealthcareSpeech/Index.cfm
Thanks,
Ben
Posted by: Ben | September 10, 2009 10:37 AM
"Ben": That survey seems to be some kind of an online survey. It seems to be pretty worthless. If you look at the questions and the results, anyone could say the speech was "effective" however there is no indication if it changed any minds. I suspect it didn't. To be effective, it would have had to do that.
Rick
Posted by: Rick Caird | September 10, 2009 11:02 AM
" Don Fitzgerald, IL": The only ones who that that speech was "home run" were the true believers. Gee, I wonder what camp you fall into.
Rick
Posted by: Rick Caird | September 10, 2009 1:57 PM
Rick,
Don still thinks president Obama is bringing home the US troops from Afghanistan, Pakistan and Iraq next week.
He's just a few bricks short of a full load and believes the tooth fairy left those dentures under his pillow.
Sorry Don but your rants are so old, the wrinkles in them are collecting dust. You put your trust in a man that flat out lied to you for your vote, continues to lie to you and you seem to like it.
Just give us the murder - death - kill count in Afghanistan and Pakstan since president Obama was elected and get it over with. He's not bringing them home, alive and whole now or any time in the near future.
Keep up your ranting and hate filled puke about the nasty republicans while president Obama keeps pouring US blood out of the war bucket!
Posted by: springfield | September 10, 2009 3:53 PM
Posted by: springfield | September 10, 2009 3:53 PM
;
I absolutely without a doubt want our soldiers in Afghanistan and Pakistan to MURDER Bin Laden and his cohorts. Why do YOU want to cut and run? Why do you want Bin Laden to continue to have dinner parties and sleepovers?????
Posted by: simply the truth | September 10, 2009 4:08 PM
Any poll that is so lopsided with 45 percent of the respondents Democrat and only 18 percent Republicans would be laughed out of any board room or classroom in America. Only CNN would have the gall to even present it. What did they expect? That all those Democrats would find
Obama's speech to be full of holes, including the fact that he actually has NO plan but said he did?
Posted by: Daryl | September 10, 2009 6:11 PM
" Rick " quit coaching your protege, " springfield ", his Republican/Libertarian is showing !! You guys should take your show on the road. You would make the nation forget Martin and Lewis, in a second !! You make for a great comedy team !! Keep up with the gags !! Maybe next week you can have Bush&Cheney perform some WMD disappearing acts !! They should boost your ratings, a little, anyway !!
SUPPORT OUR TROOPS, BRING THEM HOME, ALIVE AND WHOLE. NOW.
Posted by: Don Fitzgerald, IL | September 10, 2009 6:20 PM
" Rick " quit coaching your protege, " springfield ", his Republican/Libertarian is showing !! You guys should take your show on the road. You would make the nation forget Martin and Lewis, in a second !! You make for a great comedy team !! Keep up with the gags !! Maybe next week you can have Bush&Cheney perform some WMD disappearing acts !! They should boost your ratings, a little, anyway !!
SUPPORT OUR TROOPS, BRING THEM HOME, ALIVE AND WHOLE. NOW.
Posted by: Don Fitzgerald, IL | September 10, 2009 6:24 PM
You know, you guys complaining about oversampling Democrats have missed the point, which is that they surveyed people who viewed the speech and found that most who did were Democrats. Their survey wasn't Democrat-loaded. The viewership was, which Pew had predicted going in, which we reported. All of that was pretty clear here. And it made the finding of big support for the president meaningless, which we made clear, too. Closer reading is required.
Posted by: Mark Silva | September 10, 2009 6:47 PM