Today, CNN and ORC International released a poll on public opinion about the Affordable Care Act.
The poll asked the following question:
As you may know, a bill that makes major changes to the country's health care system became law in 2010. Based on what you have read or heard about that legislation, do you generally favor or generally oppose it?
For those that opposed the law, it asked a follow-up question:
Do you oppose that legislation because you think its approach toward health care is too liberal, or because you think it is not liberal enough?
40% of respondents favored the law. 38% opposed because it was "too liberal." 17% opposed it because it was "not liberal enough." Rather than combining the opposition numbers, one should combine the pro-health care reform numbers. The coalition of ACA supporters and ACA left critics works more naturally than that of left critics and right critics. Most ACA supporters that I know would like to see the ACA go further (or think it should have done so from the start). Doing so, you get 57%-38%.
What's interesting is how remarkably consistent the poll numbers have been.
The percentage of respondents favoring the law has ranged from 35% to 43%.
The percentage of respondents opposing the law from the right has ranged from 35% to 43%.
The percentage of respondents opposing the law from the left has ranged from 9% to 17%.
The size of the "pro-reform" coalition has ranged from 49% to 57%. It has always held a plurality, if not majority.
If you average the polls since 2010, you get 40.0% who favor the law, 38.6% who oppose it because it is too liberal, and 13.1% who oppose it because it is not liberal enough.
I'd attribute the consistency to the partisan lens through which most people view this issue.