Go figure. If you ask the public about specific bills, they are individually popular. But if you ask what's been passed as a whole, the public disapproves. A Harris poll finds this so, which is reminiscent of "I like the individual elements but I hate the health reform that was passed - just don't repeal it."
Says the headline:
Most of the Major Pieces of Legislation Signed by Obama Are Popular with Americans who Are Familiar with Them
But a sizable plurality gives negative ratings to the "new laws passed by the Congress and signed into law by the President" when they are considered together
Here are the specifics:
The three most popular bills, rated "good" by the most people who are familiar with them, are the 9/11 First Responders bill (88%), the bill to extend the Bush-era tax cuts and unemployment benefits (73%), and the repeal of the "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" law (68%).
However, when the public is shown the list of the seven bills and asked about them "all together", a substantial 61% to 39% majority of all adults rates them negatively. In an earlier question, before any of the specific bills were mentioned, a 46% to 33% plurality of all adults rated "the new laws passed over the last two years" negatively, with 21% not sure.
Keep that in mind when people tell you that health reform is unpopular but individual elements of the bill are. Why is it unpopular? Because Republicans tend to believe what they are told by other Republicans. If it were endorsed (like the bill to extend the Bush-era tax cuts), it'd meet with higher approval independent of the merits.
These findings suggest several conclusions about public opinion and how it is formed and influenced. One conclusion is that the big picture—how people feel overall—is not the sum of all the small pictures, or how people feel about the details. It is also clear that emotions tend to trump detailed analysis; rhetoric often trumps information; and that partisanship often trumps rational analysis. All of this confirms that Democracy is messy, and the truth of Churchill's famous remark that Democracy is the worst form of government – except for all of the others.
That's how Fox News stays in business.