The rocky debut of the insurance exchanges at the heart of President Barack Obama’s health-care law poses risks to his political agenda and the activist role for government that he has championed for his second term. …
“This is your signature program, and you’re marching it onto the field and everybody stumbles,” said Peter Hart, a veteran Democratic pollster. “It’s hard to see competency, and it puts a giant question mark behind the future plans.” …
Bill McInturff, a Republican pollster, says Obama has time, possibly even months, to fix the snags before suffering lasting political damage from the initial performance of the website. The public isn’t likely to hold early difficulties with the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act against Obama if they fade quickly, said McInturff, who consulted with the Bush administration on the Medicare prescription-drug rollout. CONT.
Mike Dorning, Bloomberg