![obamacare is awesome/ [CC image credit: Will O'Neill | Flickr.]](https://www.politicususa.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/Screen-Shot-2014-04-01-at-3.49.49-PM-1.jpg)
A new NBC-Marist poll found that 57% of registered voters in Kentucky have an unfavorable view of Obamacare, while 33% have a favorable view of it.
But a plurality of registered voters – 29% – have a favorable impression of Kynect. Kynect is Obamacare, by a different name. Twenty-two percent have an unfavorable impression of it, and 27% have never heard of it while 21% are unsure.
And just to prove that it’s all in the name, not in what it actually does, a plurality 43% of registered voters strongly think the “health care law” is a really bad idea. Just 27% think it’s a good idea. But they love Kynect.
I’ll bet if the questions were worded differently in order to explain what it does, the results would be different. For example, “Do you think it is a good idea to have affordable healthcare available for everyone so that everyone pays their share and no one is cut off from medical help due to an inability to pay?” “Do you think it’s a good idea to stop insurance companies from canceling insurance policies when a person gets sick?” “Do you think it’s a good idea to give women free mammograms?” Etc.
The truth is that Americans love what Republicans call socialism, so long as it’s not called socialism. Waving hello to the Tea Partiers against socialism who carry signs telling the government to keep their hands off of their Medicare.
A negative 1% “haven’t heard of it (Obamacare)”. That’s pretty astounding for a policy, but who could miss it with Republicans fear mongering about it, tossing coffins on lawns, sending threats to lawmakers, and Sarah Palin’s Death Panels. You’d have to be living in a cave to have missed the idea that Obamacare was going to kill you and fundamentally change America to a socialist Fascist state of doom forever, as not shown in every other industrialized nation which have affordable health insurance.
The key here is that Obamacare is in operation now and people are beginning to see that the world has not ended. In time, what Republicans fear the most will happen: People will embrace Obamacare as they do Medicare and Social Security, thus harming Republicans’ efforts to keep Americans from having a government that works for them instead of the elite. Every time a voter sees the government working to help citizens, a Republican has to spend more money to fool the voters come election season.
Democratic Governor Steve Beshear, of Embrace Obamacare and Attack Kentucky Republicans with It fame, has a 63% approval rating and a 22% disapproval, with 14% unsure. In other words, we might question conventional “wisdom” (aka, beltway agreement) that claims Democrats are fighting an uphill battle in 2014 because of Obama’s bad approval ratings and Obamacare. The truth is that Democrats are fighting an uphill battle because the press aids and abets Republicans in their Obama/Obamacare fear-mongering, fail at fact-checking, and run bogus Benghazi email and bogus IRS stories based on uncorroborated Republican sources. If the press did their job, the people would not be so misinformed as to only like Obamacare when it’s called something else.
Sure, Obama’s approval ratings are nowhere near as low as W’s, but the press totally buys it when Americans tend to not approve of Obama after all they hear of the President – from same press – is that he is lying about a cover up in Benghazi and using the IRS to hunt down enemies.
The same caveat can be applied to Americans supposed dislike of Obamacare. All they’ve heard of it is scary Republican ads about Obama’s death panels and Obama stealing from Medicare. The loudest voices have the most money to spread their “message”. The Koch brothers are spending millions on ObamaScare ads. These things tend to make an impression on the public, especially when they aren’t paying enough attention to know who is behind the claims.
Those polled in the NBC poll were majority white, mostly landlines (some cell phone users), with a majority “registered Democrat”. The caveat here is that with the Tea Party splitting from the GOP and embarrassed/disenchanted conservatives pretending to be “Independents”, it’s hard to know if the Independents in polls really represent Independents, or are comprised of enough embarrassed Republicans to actually belong in the Republican column.
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This is something I have said from the very beginning. There is very little education apparatus out there to teach people. We all know they hate Obamacare but love everything that’s in it. Ask a parent if its ok to dump his 25 year old off his insurance and he will say no, but will vote against Obamacare at every turn
This is a sad state of affairs
I have seldom read or heard of anything as downright silly as that of adults who should show some discernment abilities getting bent out of shape because they don’t like the name of something they otherwise like in its entirety. Apparently, it stems from the personal antipathy for this president that they would reject anything named after him, even though he was the president who signed it into law. Republicans have been successful in brainwashing folks like these, and I can’t help wondering if they realize that they look and sound like simpletons for allowing a name to influence them.
What would happen if during the Nov election cycle they were told that their Obamacare would be repealed if they voted republican, as it probably would!
But is a rose still a rose
I’ll never forget this story about Kynect. A guy, presume in his 50’s, after reading brochures and ads of ACA with Kynect name all over it, he was so impressed and exclaimed “I hope this is better than Obamacare!” He literally signed up on spot and persuade his friends and families to do the same which they did said the same thing, “Whoa, this is way better than Obama has offer” and “sign me up for it, this is better than Obamacare!”
Yes I know it’s better than Obamacare since it’s called Affordable Care Act. Liberals, Progressives, and others naturally called it ACA for short.
The thing is Anne the republican was the one who change the name not the president, they are the ones who confused the people. They did it trying to turn the people against the president and they sold the health care law for him. They also realize that it was a good thing for the people but didn’t want the the president to get the credit and didn’t know how to stop so instead they really help him get the credit for it. The one who vote against themselves are ones who don’t read or research their own info and they get lost and accept what others tell them
What you and I have described is the habit of taking the path of least resistance when it comes to critical thinking and common sense. Republicans know which buttons to push in their followers, so they do the kinds of racist, misogynistic, and socialist-bashing dog whistles that rope people like these in. That’s why they are foolish enough to object to something they like being called “ObamaCare,” without doing their own research and unquestioningly swallowing nonsense.
If I could like your post a 1,000 times, I would, Anne. You’ve pin-pointed the problem exactly.
I live in Ky. People will never like anything with President Obama’s name on it. This state is as bad or worse than Fl., Al., Ga., Tx., Ms.. Mo., Ok., N.C., S.C. or any other state one could think of when it comes to being racist assholes, and uneducated ones at that. All you have to do is have a Facebook page to see it.
This is an interesting poll. I just finished a short essay about public policy and the importance of language. Bottom line: Language in policy matters.
Republicans were smart in this regard, given their desire for two things: votes and money. They took the mistrust and out-and-out hatred of Pres. Obama in some quarters, as well as the mistrust people have about “socialized” medicine (even though ACA isn’t that either), and turned it into a very good weapon – “ObamaCare.”
Bad for constituents, but good for the Republican politicians.
I agree totally, Gary Vaughn. But, I think focusing on getting McConnell the hell out of his seat should be KY’s main goal right now. Obamacare, like Medicare will level off in time. It took 20 yrs. for Medicare to finally be signed into law (by Lindon Johnson, Dem.) I do wish McConnell would take Rand Paul with him.. :)
I love, love the fact that it was the rethugs who named the ACA, Obama care. They will forever feel the sting and feel the shame, every time history repeats the term (OBAMA CARE).
This big Boo-boo will forever be the rethugs biggest mistake and make them a laughing stock in history.
Call it Good Samaritan Care. It embodies some of those values. Sens. McConnell and Paul, candidate Bevin and the Chamber of Commerce loathe and detest the values expressed in the Good Samaritan parable. Kentucky Democrats should be hammering this point home.