Health policy issues are hot topic online in key states

Sep 19 2012

CNN reports that news stories related to the health law and other health policies are being shared online more than those about other issues.

CNN: Health Care Most Shared Issue In Battleground States
Of all the major issues our country is facing, stories relating to health care legislation are being shared online in key battleground states more than any other issue, according to data from social sharing company ShareThis. According to information provided to CNN, 16.1% of total shares in 12 battleground states are stories about health care. Over 12% of shares are on stories relating to abortion, followed by education, the economy, role of government, gun control, environment, same-sex marriage, terrorism and foreign policy. Immigration is the least shared-issue with only 1.7% of all shares. Users from New Mexico share health care stories the most – at 45% – followed by New Hampshire at 20% (Weisbrod, 9/17).

Meanwhile, as GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney faces one campaign challenge, a new ad is released detailing how his positions are positive for women.  

National Journal (Video): Romney Campaign Ad: Obama Is Bad For Women
GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney is trying to close the gender gap with a new television ad that claims President Obama's policies are bad for women. The ad, entitled "Dear Daughter," shows a mother holding her infant daughter, as a voiceover proclaims, "Obama's policies are making it harder on women." The narrator says the poverty rate for women is the highest in 17 years, and more than 5.5 million women are unemployed. The ad, which was officially released on Tuesday, also points to a non-gender-specific issue, the national debt, calling it another way Obama has failed women. "Your share of Obama's debt is over $50,000, and it grows every day," the voiceover says. "That's what Obama's policies have done for women" (Seligman, 9/18).

The Associated Press: Romney: Nearly Half 'Believe They Are Victims'
Already scrambling to steady a struggling campaign, Republican Mitt Romney confronted a new headache Monday after a video surfaced showing him telling wealthy donors that almost half of all Americans "believe they are victims" entitled to extensive government support. He added that as a candidate for the White House, "my job is not to worry about those people." At a hastily called news conference late in the day, Romney offered no apologies for his remarks and when he was asked if he was concerned he had offended anyone, he conceded the comments weren't "elegantly stated" and they were spoken "off the cuff" (Hunt, 9/18).