Two surveys conducted recently seem to point to the fact that voters were trying to send a message opposing Obama health care. One of the surveys conducted on election day demonstrated that 45%of those polled cast their vote for Republican candidates due to their dislike of the new health care laws.  According to Bill McInturff, who studied the results of the surveys, 28 percent of voters supported Obama health care and 27% were neutral in this area.

While McInturff, who handled polling in the 2008 presidential contest for Senator John McCain, believes that voters showed their strong opposition to Obama health care in their mid-term election votes, Brad Woodhouse, communications director of the Democratic National Committee has a different opinion.  Woodhouse believes that Obama health care was a neutral factor, and that the economy was the biggest factor in voting.  Woodhouse also made the point that Senators Blanche Lincoln (Ark.) and Russell Feingold (Wis.) were the only two Democratic senators seeking reelection who lost of those Democratic senators who had voted in favor of Obama health care.

It also appears that ads broadcast on television may have swayed some of the voters involved in the survey according to McInturff.  According to the polls, 70% of voters in the districts surveyed admitted to having seen television ads regarding Obama health care; of this 70%, the majority remembered that the ads they had seen were in opposition of the health care law.

While strategists disagree on the number one reason that Republicans swept the house following the mid-term elections, it is agreed that Obama health care was a factor, whether the primary factor or not.  When it comes time for 2012 presidential elections, it is a sure bet that Obama health care will be a topic front and center in the GOP nominee’s argument against President Obama.  It may not be clear whether economic issues or health care reform was the real determining factor in the results of the  mid-term election, but one thing is for certain – Obama health care is a topic we will be hearing about for some time to come.

Mark South
Obama Health Care