Democrats can win on Obamacare in 2014, a
new survey conducted by by Dem pollster Geoff Garin for Americans United for Change, the Center for American Progress, and SEIU, says. Likewise, Republicans can lose on it as well.
Only 36 percent of all voters say they would prefer Obamacare to be repealed, whereas a 40 percent plurality would prefer to leave the law as it is (15%) or just make minor changes (25 percent). Another 18 percent of voters support making major changes in the ACA. Among the key groups who are undecided in the 2014 generic Congressional ballot, only 39 percent want to repeal Obamacare.
The key for Democrats,
analysts say, is to focus on the positive things the law does, but more importantly, to talk about how to fix it.
"The clear message here to Republicans is that they are out of kilter with the electorate because of their obsession with repealing Obamacare,” Garin said. [...] “This sends a very strong message to Democrats that taking the initiative, being proactive in making the case against repeal, and making the case for fixing and improving the law, is a very strong political position for 2014.”
[David Wasserman, the nonpartisan analyst who tracks House districts and races for Cook Political Report says] "Democrats are preaching keep; Republicans are preaching repeal. [...] The winning candidates in 2014 will most likely be preaching fix."
This highlights something that's
been apparent for years from Kaiser Family Foundation surveys and something we've been talking about here for three years: A good portion of the opposition to Obamacare comes from the segment of the population that thinks the law didn't go far enough to fix health care. They certainly aren't for repeal, they want the law to work better. Arguing that Democrats will work to make the existing law better, while Republicans want to take everything away is the message that will appeal to the majority of voters.