Poll: Health Law Hurts President Politically - Disapproval Rate Obama's Job Performance Rises to All-Time High of 54%, Even as Americans Upbeat on Economy

From The Wall Street Journal:

The federal health-care law is becoming a heavier political burden for President Barack Obama and his party, despite increased confidence in the economy and the public's own generally upbeat sense of well-being, a new Wall Street Journal/NBC News poll suggests.

Disapproval of Mr. Obama's job performance hit an all-time high in the poll, at 54%, amid the flawed rollout of the health law. Half of those polled now consider the law a bad idea, also a record high.

The survey of 1,000 adults conducted between Dec. 4 and Dec. 8 found a sharp erosion since January in many of the attributes—honesty, leadership, ability to handle a crisis—that had kept Mr. Obama aloft through the economic and political turmoil of his first term.

In a clear parallel to sentiment toward President George W. Bush at the same point in his second term, just over half in the poll said events in recent months had dealt Mr. Obama a setback from which he wouldn't likely recover.

 

Asked what shaped their view of the president this year, almost 60% cited the 2010 health-care law, the Affordable Care Act, as a chief factor. The poll found faith in Mr. Obama had dropped noticeably in recent months among young voters and Hispanics, two groups that had been among his steadiest supporters.

 

"The president is being weighed down by one issue, his health-care law," said Democratic pollster Fred Yang, who helped direct the poll. "It's probably fair to say that as goes health care, so goes the Obama presidency for the next year."

 

Bill McInturff, a Republican pollster who worked on the poll alongside Mr. Yang, said the damage to the president's standing could linger. "When you dent a president on honesty and straightforwardness," he said, "you have done major damage that can be difficult and time-consuming to repair."

 

The poll illustrated a deepening distaste for all Washington institutions. More than half of those polled rated the current Congress as one of the worst ever, by far the most negative verdict going back to 1990.

 

Despite the angst over Washington dysfunction, the poll found participants surprisingly upbeat about their own lives. Nearly two-thirds expressed satisfaction with their financial situation. Eight in 10 said they were satisfied with their health care and insurance coverage, a higher number than had that view in 1994—and even in September, before the rocky rollout of the Affordable Care Act.

 

Those polled also were more optimistic about the economy, with 75% saying it would improve or stay the same next year, compared with 65% who had that view in late October. But disapproval of Mr. Obama's handling of the economy jumped to 58% from 52% in September.

 

In all, the health-care law came in for rough treatment more than two months after it became apparent that technical problems were bedeviling the online marketplaces for buying insurance policies. Millions of Americans received notices that their policies were being canceled because they didn't meet standards in the law, yet had trouble using government websites to buy new policies.

 

In a sign that may not bode well for the president, the law's unpopularity jumped the most among the uninsured, who stand to be among the main beneficiaries of the law. Fully half of uninsured Americans now think the law was a bad idea. In September, 34% saw it that way.

 

The poll offered some good news for Republicans. For the first time since 2011, participants gave the GOP a slight edge, 44% to 42%, on which party they would like to see control Congress next year. Republicans also have made substantial gains this year in terms of public perceptions on which party would do a better job on a number of key issues. For the first time since 1995, the Republicans now enjoy a double-digit advantage on handling of the economy. The GOP also has whittled away substantially on the longstanding Democratic advantage on which party can best handle health care.

 

Some poll respondents said it was too early to reach a verdict on Mr. Obama and the fate of the health-care law he championed.

 

"Give it a minute" to work, said Dana Owens, a 55-year-old Obama supporter in Kingston, Tenn., arguing that she expected the law to work out in the end.

 

Scott Schmidt, a 40-year-old firefighter from Newburgh, N.Y., an independent who voted for Republican Mitt Romney last year, isn't so sure. Mr. Obama "doesn't give me confidence in his leadership," he said, adding, "He makes me nervous for the future of my children."