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Poll: Joe Wilson Trails Dem Opponent Rob Miller In Wake of "You Lie!" Outburst

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SC-02 Candidate Rob Miller (D) and Rep. Joe Wilson (R-SC)

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House '10, Joe Wilson, SC-02

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A new poll of Rep. Joe Wilson's (R-SC) district by Public Policy Polling (D) says that the controversial Congressman may have seriously landed himself in hot water through his "You lie!" outburst -- and is now trailing his Democratic opponent by one point.

Democratic candidate Rob Miller, who has received a ton of money from donors around the country since Wednesday night, now has 44%, to Wilson's 43%. The two both have 75% support among their own parties, but Miller leads among independents by 47%-39%. Only 29% of the total pool of respondents approved of Wilson's actions at the speech, compared to 62% who disapproved.

Wilson won re-election over Miller by 54%-46% in 2008, after having previously won his races with support of more than 60% or even over 80% of the electorate.

The demographics of the poll roughly match the actual demographics of the district. That said, it is a long time between now and November 2010.

Bonus finding: According to this poll, Wilson's constituents favor the public option by 44%-39%.

From the pollster's analysis: "In a matter of seconds Joe Wilson turned himself from a safe incumbent into one of the most vulnerable Republicans in the country for 2010."

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31 comments

Recommend Recommend (3)

September 11, 2009 2:33 PM   

Hoooray for good news

and even this:

Wilson's constituents favor the public option by 44%-39%.

what what

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September 11, 2009 2:39 PM   

Only 29% of the total pool of respondents approved of Wilson's actions at the speech

29%... oddly consistent number :).

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September 11, 2009 2:51 PM    in reply to geofu54

Exactly what I was thinking (again). The old 29%, the extreme kookoo wingnuts who basically run the country.

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September 11, 2009 4:33 PM    in reply to Winston Smith

I've noticed that too. It seems consistent across years and countries. I know of no one who has tried to actually quantify it, so take this as an educated guess, but it seems in any population, 25-30% will support any authoritarian authority figure regardless of what they do. If that's right, it explains why Bush's approval had a 29% floor.

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September 11, 2009 2:59 PM   

"Wilson's constituents favor the public option by 44%-39%."

Priceless.

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September 11, 2009 3:36 PM    in reply to Shrubbit

The question they should be asking is this:

Why is Wilson, whose family gets "government-run" health care -- paid for by the taxpayer -- against "government-run" health care for that very same taxpayer?

Or this way:

Why is Wilson, who is on the public dole, against the taxpayers who pay that dole also being on the public dole?

Or:

Why is Wilson for welfare for his family, but against welfare for those who pay the welfare?

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September 13, 2009 9:45 AM    in reply to JNagarya

members of congress do not get 'government run health care'. they get a quality group plan negotitated by their employer:

Federal Employees Health Benefits Program (FEHBP)

The Federal Employees Health Benefits Program (FEHBP) is a system of "managed competition" through which employee health benefits are provided to full-time permanent civilian employees and qualified retirees of the United States Government. The FEHBP allows insurance companies and employee associations such as labor unions to develop health, dental, and allied plans to be marketed to governmental employees.

These plans are available to employees during an "open enrollment" once probationary status has been passed by a new employee, during which time the employee, if accepting enrollment, will be covered fully in any plan he or she chooses without limitations regarding "pre-existing conditions." After the initial enrollment, changes can be made only upon a "qualifying life event" such as marriage, divorce, adoption or birth of a child, or change in employment status of a spouse, or during the annual "open season," during which employees can enroll, disenroll, or change from one plan to another. The exact dates of the open season change from year to year, but are basically from the Monday of the second full week in November through Monday, the second full week of December.

Premiums vary from plan to plan and are paid in part by the employer (the U. S. Government agency that the employee works for) and the remainder by the employee: the employer pays an amount equal to 72 percent of the average plan premium for self-only or family coverage (not to exceed 75 percent of the premium for the selected plan), and the employee pays the rest. Certain employees (such as postal workers) have a higher portion of their premiums paid as the result of collective bargaining agreements.

Some plans, particularly the one offered by some employee unions such as the National Association of Letter Carriers, and by the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association on behalf of its member insurers, are nationwide; others are regionally-available plans such as HMOs. The FEHBP is open to members of United States Congress; in the 2004 presidential campaign, Senator John Kerry proposed opening enrollment in this plan to all Americans, which would certainly have changed it drastically.

Check these sites for more information: www.OPM.gov/insure www.FEPblue.ORG

-wikipedia

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September 13, 2009 9:50 AM    in reply to fkaZk0sm0

oh wait.

are you saying wilson gets TRICARE?

then i guess, never mind.

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September 14, 2009 10:54 AM    in reply to fkaZk0sm0

"members of congress do not get 'government run health care'. they get a quality group plan negotitated by their employer:"

Oh. I stand corrected. And the employer is:

The gov't.

And the chief negotiator is:

The gov't.

And payor for the health care with taxpayer monies is:

The gov't.

Sounds like "gov't controlled" to me, as the anti-"gov't control" Republicans define it.

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September 16, 2009 10:04 AM    in reply to JNagarya

don't be ridiculous. if you work at mcdonald's and get your health insurance from the plan they offer their employees, you are not getting "mcdonald's run health care" or "mcdonald's controlled health care". not even as the republicans would define it.

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September 16, 2009 4:29 PM    in reply to fkaZk0sm0

You have an uphill battle, troll: there are many who know what the Republicans mean by "gov't-run" and it's exactly the same as Wilson is getting.

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September 11, 2009 3:11 PM   

As A Soldier this was to much..... to leave in one place so im posting in everywhere!
Cut the man some slack. He's passionate! I know this because he told me, in the sole message that blazes across his campaign Web site: JOE WILSON IS PASSIONATE ABOUT STOPPING GOVERNMENT RUN HEALTH CARE!

Except that he's not─at least not when it comes to his, and his family's, government-run health care. As a retired Army National Guard colonel, Wilson gets a lot of benefits (one of which, apparently, was not a full appreciation of the customs, traditions, and courtesies that mandate respect for one's commander in chief). And with four sons in the armed services, the entire Wilson brood has enjoyed multiple generations of free military medical coverage, known as TRICARE.

Yes, it's true. As politicos and town-hall criers debate the finer points of the public option, employer mandates, coverage for undocumented immigrants, and who's more Hitler-like, they seem to miss a larger point: the United States has single-payer health care. It covers 9.5 million active-duty servicemen and women, military retirees, and their dependents─including almost a 10th of all Californians and Floridians, and nearly a quarter of a million residents of Wilson's home state.

Military beneficiaries like Wilson─who, as a retiree, is eligible for lifetime coverage─never have to worry about an eye exam, a CT scan, a prolonged labor, or an open-heart surgery. They have access not only to the military's 133,500 uniformed health professionals, but cooperating private doctors as well─whose fees are paid by the Department of Defense. It's high-quality care, too: surveys from 2007 and 2008 list TRICARE among "the best health insurer(s) in the nation" by customer satisfaction. Yet Wilson insists government-run health care is a problem.

To be fair, Wilson has been consistent in his policymaking if not his personal life: according to his last congressional opponent, Wilson voted 11 times against health care for veterans in eight years, even as he voted "aye" for the Iraq War (during the debate on the war vote, he even called one Democrat "viscerally anti-American"─several times). He voted to cut veterans' benefits─not his own─to make room for President George W. Bush's tax cuts. He repeatedly voted for budgets that slashed funding to the Veterans Administration and TRICARE. And perhaps most bizarrely, he refused─repeatedly─to approve Democratic-led initiatives that would have extended TRICARE coverage to all reservists and National Guard members, even though a disproportionate number of them have served multiple tours in Iraq and Afghanistan─and many lost access to their civilian work benefits when they did so.

There's one other notable exception to Wilson's tough-on-government record: In July, when the health-insurance debate just started heating up, he offered an amendment that would exempt TRICARE from any system of employer mandates in a health-care bill. It's not clear whether this is necessary, since most such bills in Congress keep government benefits exempt from the rules as a matter of course. But Wilson took the opportunity to make his stand.

"As a 31-year Army Guard and Reserve veteran, I know the importance of TRICARE," he said in a press release. "The number of individuals who choose to enroll in TRICARE continues to rise because TRICARE is a low cost, comprehensive health plan that is portable and available in some form world-wide." He went on to call TRICARE "world class health care," concluding on a personal note. "I am grateful to have four sons now serving in the military, and I know that their families appreciate the availability of TRICARE," he said.

What does that mean? Nothing─except that Joe Wilson was against government-run health care before he was for it. And now he's against it again. Just not when it comes to his own flesh and blood.

Adam Weinstein, an Iraq veteran, is a freelance journalist. He is uninsured.
http://blog.newsweek.com/blogs/thegaggle/archive/2009/09/10/joe-wilson-s-dirty-health-care-secret.aspx

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September 11, 2009 3:15 PM   

While I think this is great, I think this is temporary. The right wing will come out in support of him, Rush and Hannity and Bill will have him on and they will all lie and don't forget his constituency can barely read so they will probably reelect this half wit boor. And now with the news that he will not apologize again even though Dems want him to apologize in congress he will get even more of the Secesh (Ya'll-Cain't-Tell-Us-Whut-Ta-Do) Crowd. And he will get support from outside the state too I imagine.

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September 11, 2009 4:03 PM    in reply to eve cairo

don't forget his constituency can barely read

That's an insulting generalization.

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September 11, 2009 3:18 PM   

As long as he fails to apologize again, it will keep Joe "You Lied" Wilson on the frying pan. Burn, baby burn.

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September 11, 2009 3:20 PM   

Move On's goal for Rob Miller is over $1,000,000, by having its members contribute at least $20.00 to his campaign. I threw Rob some love on that score.

Moreover, check THIS out:

http://www.thedailybeast.com/blogs-and-stories/2009-09-11/send-joe-wilson-home/

Even some former Bush/McCain Republicans are giving to Miller. AND joining his campaign.

What a scream.

Plus, if he doesn't apologize on the House Floor, he faces a vote next week to be admonished and reprimanded by the full House.

With any luck at all, this guy is going DOWN!!!

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September 11, 2009 6:10 PM    in reply to willia451

You did a good thing by contributing. Seriously. Well done.

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September 11, 2009 3:24 PM   

Joe seems destined for the "Hatred Over America" bus tour, co-starring Newt Gingrich, Sarah Palin. Michelle Bachmann and David Duke with special appearances by Trent Lott and Rick Perry, musical performances by Toby Keith and Brooks & Dunn.

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September 11, 2009 3:31 PM    in reply to traitorjoe

What about Ted Nugent and Hank Williams Jr.?

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September 11, 2009 3:36 PM    in reply to traitorjoe

You forget Hank Williams Jr., who sang about Obama's "terrorist friends" during McCain's campaign stops last year.

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September 11, 2009 3:33 PM   

And what was CNN.com's lead this morning on their home page? "Rep. Wilson raises more than $200,000". The article did mention Miller raising more than $750,000 but it was only the last 2 paragraphs of the article. Seems to me THAT is the bigger news, but CNN felt the Republican should get the front page boost.

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September 11, 2009 4:06 PM    in reply to tomanjeri

Nice, right?

Just like the little headline: Who's right? Wilson or Obama?

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September 11, 2009 4:00 PM   

I just went to Miller's Web site and contributed to his campaign.

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September 11, 2009 4:13 PM   

I just contacted cnn.com (cnn.com/feedback) and asked why they have featured the Wilson pic and the bragging headline that he has raised $200,000, when his oppenent has raised $750,000. Stupid CNN.

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September 11, 2009 4:16 PM   

28% - 29%...usually taking the coo coo position. This is getting downright scientifically consistent!!!

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September 11, 2009 4:30 PM   

Would Miller be a blue dog Democrat? If so, does this matter?

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September 11, 2009 4:51 PM    in reply to Manic Depression

Le Sigh.

Blue Dog Democrats are not lock-step with Republicans. So yes, it matters.

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September 11, 2009 5:00 PM   

FWIW, opensecrets shows Joe's largest donor is the Am. Hospital Assc. with a payment of $7K (as of June 30th). I took a quick look at the AHA site to see their stance on the HCare debate. They had just issued a PR in support of Pres. Obama's effort, but sadly it included this snipet..."America's hospitals stand ready to do our part to extend coverage to more Americans and to continually strive towards providing high-quality care for patients that is more efficient and affordable.

We appreciate the President's willingness to explore better alternatives to today's medical liability system, and urge that even stronger actions be taken in this area to reign in excessive lawsuits that are currently driving physicians to practice defensive medicine and raise the cost of care for everyone. At the same time, we have concerns on how a public plan would be constructed, but are glad to see that President Obama is open to exploring other ideas that would help us achieve our shared goal of universal coverage...

Haven't looked much beyond that statement so its hard to day if the AHA is totally against a public option.

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September 11, 2009 5:12 PM   

All very nice, but the election is more than a year from now. An eternity in political terms. Especially now that the Dems have caved following his outburst.

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September 11, 2009 6:00 PM   

The PPP is a reliable poll. If these numbers stand--Wilson is FINISHED!

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September 11, 2009 6:12 PM   

Under the "you cannot make this stuff up" category, in three different places two of us at DKos have heart the following phrase used in defense of Joe Wilson:

He called a spade a spade

I heard it from a man on the street in SC talking to NPR, and saw it on Twitter from a "I Am the Mob" member defending Wilson.

My DKos friend experienced it on Facebook from a retired southern law enforcement officer who put the first spade in quotes.

When confronted with the racial overtones, both the twitterer and the Facebooker pulled the classic dogwhistle response "That phrase is not racist!"

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