CBS poll: Americans more favorable about Obama's health plan after speech

Sep 14 2009

President Obama's Wednesday night speech about overhauling the country's healthcare system appears "to have been successful — to some extent" according to a CBS poll, which "shows that Americans now give him the best marks of his presidency on handling health care, but they're still divided over whether he's clearly explained his plan," CBS News' Political Hotsheet blog reports.

"Last week, just 40 percent of these adults approved of how the president was handling health care. More, 47 percent, disapproved. After the speech, 52 percent said they approved and only 38 percent said they disapproved. Those are the best assessments for Mr. Obama's handling of health care shown all year by CBS News Polls." For this poll, CBS re-interviewed 678 adults on Thursday who were first questioned in another survey conducted August 27-31 (9/11).

The Hill's Blog Briefing Room writes about "the bad news: Almost half said Obama had not clearly explained the details of his health plan. And less than a quarter indicated the health proposals under consideration would 'help them personally,' according to CBS. That number in particular, CBS adds, has not changed much in the past week" (Romm, 9/11).

http://www.kaiserhealthnews.org/