Many public opinion polls have taken America’s temperature on Obamacare and its components, but few have asked whether government-guaranteed health insurance, as a principle, is a worthy government endeavor. A new survey by the Public Religion Research Institute does just that, and Democrats may find the results troubling. Many Democratic-leaning groups outside the party’s core are ambivalent about government’s role. Perceptions about the implementation of the Affordable Care Act, which has not gone well so far, could therefore prove critical for the future of the law and for the Party’s electoral prospects in 2014 and beyond. CONT.
Bill Galston & Korin Davis, Brookings Institution