The
latest polling from
Washington Post/ABC News is not encouraging for President Obama, with his disapproval rating at 55 percent. But if he's looking for any glimmer of hope in it, it's this: Obamacare has recovered, a bit, and is now polling at about the same as it was before the troubled roll-out of the website.
Better for the president is an easing of opposition to the Affordable Care Act, with attitudes back to a close division on the law; 46 percent of Americans support it, with 49 percent opposed. Opposition is down from a record 57 percent last month amid the new system’s troubled rollout.
The ACA’s impact to date on Americans’ perceptions of the quality of their health care, coverage and costs is less negative than many anticipated when it was signed into law. But while 37 percent in 2010 expected the law to improve the health care system overall, just 19 percent now say it’s actually done so. And far more, 47 percent, say it’s made things worse.
One huge decline is in the question of whether the individual mandate should be delayed; a month ago, 71 percent wanted to see it repealed, and this week it's 60 percent. This poll doesn't ask about support or opposition to repeal of the law. That's really the key question when looking at the politics of Obamacare: No legitimate polling has yet shown real support for repeal outside of hardcore Republicans. And the GOP House.