Poll finds high support for Obama, hesitation for plans

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Mar 4 2009

U.S. residents have more confidence in President Obama than in some of his initiatives, such as the recently enacted economic stimulus plan and a proposal to raise taxes in order to expand health care coverage, according to a recent Wall Street Journal/NBC News poll, the Journal reports.

The survey of 1,007 U.S. adults was conducted between Feb. 26 and March 1 and has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.1 percentage points.

The poll found that while 70% of U.S. residents said that they are very dissatisfied with the economy, 41% said that the country is headed in the right direction, up from 26% in mid-January and from 12% before the election. Forty-four percent said that the country is on the wrong track, a number pollsters expected to be higher given the current economic conditions. The poll found that two-thirds of U.S. residents feel "hopeful" about Obama's leadership and plans.

According to the Journal, "The positive numbers are driven largely by Democrats who cheer the president's quick embrace of some items long on the party's agenda," such as the expansion of CHIP. However, the poll "flashed warning signs for the administration" on health care, the Journal reports. Forty-nine percent of U.S. residents said they were willing to pay higher taxes so that every U.S. resident could have health coverage, compared with 66% in March 1993 when former President Clinton attempted to overhaul the health care system. According to the Journal, "That underscores why the administration is focused on cutting costs, not covering the uninsured."

Peter Hart, a Democratic pollster who conducted the survey with Republican Bill McInturff, said, "These numbers capture where America is today -- apprehensive about the future, but willing to undertake big, bold policy initiatives." According to McInturff, "For most major social change to happen, you need a very strong president with very strong numbers" (Meckler, Wall Street Journal, 3/4)

The full results of the poll are available online (.pdf).

This article was reprinted from khn.org with permission from the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation. Kaiser Health News, an editorially independent news service, is a program of the Kaiser Family Foundation, a nonpartisan health care policy research organization unaffiliated with Kaiser Permanente.