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Strong Majority of Arkansans Support Public Option

Brian Beutler | September 14, 2009, 2:52PM

Blanche Lincoln, Health Care, Public Option, Senate, Senate '10

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A new Research 2000 poll commissioned by Daily Kos has some interesting news for both Sen. Blanche Lincoln (D-AR), and supporters of the public option.

Though Lincoln's favorable/unfavorable split is an unenviable 43 to 49, her potential opponents are still relatively unknown, and she maintains a considerable lead over all of them.

More interesting still is that respondents--600 likely voters--strongly favor "creating a government-administered health insurance option that anyone can purchase to compete with private insurance plans." The split on that score is 55 to 38. And remember, this is Arkansas, where Rush Limbaugh has a stronger approval rating than Barack Obama. Makes you think Lincoln could afford to be a bit more bullish on the public option than she has been of late.

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14 comments

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mans_best_friend

September 14, 2009 3:07 PM

Memo to Blanche Lincoln:

Given a choice between a Democrat that votes like a Republican and a real Republican, people will vote for the real Republican every time.

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tosh

September 14, 2009 5:07 PM in reply to mans_best_friend

Probably should have someone threaten to run from the left of Blanche. Haven't seen the internals of that poll, but one would assume that the Dems in AK are even stronger for the PO than those raw numbers. We know GOP voters (which is down to the Base at this point) are strongly against it, while Indies are a mixed bag.

I don't know if some actually needs to start doing massive fund raising, and I'm not sure we want to toss a lot of money down the rabbit hole. But just a potential candidate starting to talk about it, and the potential of the type of fund raising we saw for Joe Wilson's opponent... might move Blanche a little more to the left. Not terribly likely, but perhaps enough to keep her tightly voting with the caucus for Cloture and also in trying to keep her from watering stuff down.

John

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Walter Mitty

September 14, 2009 3:11 PM

And Maine supports it over 60%...

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Docb

September 14, 2009 4:30 PM in reply to Walter Mitty

More people will support the Public Option when they learn this....

WALL STREET IS BETWEEN YOU AND YOUR DOCTOR NOW.

http://investing.businessweek.com/research/stocks/ownership/institutional.asp?ric=WLP

Wall Street Banks hold these percentages of shares in Health Insurance giants and are increasing shares by the tens of millions

United 77.32%
WellPoint 79.04%
Aetna 79.45%
CIGNA Corp. 68.71%
Coventry Health 82.25%
Health Net Inc. 79.37%

Wall Street is the enemy. Can we afford another bailout for these people and their bonus structure!

Get it out there..Congress can not afford to have it known they are supporting Wall Street again...This is the link we need to get real HC reform! Email your congress people asap..and the MSM!

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Dorn76

September 14, 2009 3:11 PM

Bottom line: Blanche Lincoln cares more about appeasing the insurance industry than representing her constituents. I've emailed this poll to her office, and asked for an explanation. I suggest we all do the same! Let's no let these Critters off the hook.

http://lincoln.senate.gov/contact/

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PeninsulaMatt

September 14, 2009 3:14 PM

It is more than a bit crazy. The people who would benefit most from a public option are those who live in rural areas with limited private insurance options. Those states tend to be red and represented by conservatives who are anti-government.

Imagine if a public option passed and people in these rural communities started signing up for it. Mental heath providers would be overwhelmed by people suffering from cognitive dissonance.

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ogliberal

September 14, 2009 3:21 PM

Here's Lincoln's problem. A majority of the folks in Arkansas support the public option,per this poll. They probably support just about everything that is in the proposed legislation so far. What they oppose is anything that will have Obama's name attached to it, no matter how much good it will do for them. For many folks, this isn't about the details, it's about hating Obama, it's about the fact that he's president and that some liberal lady from godless, sodomizing San Fran is the Speaker of the House.

That's why it's more likely you'd get Olympia Snowe to vote for a bill with a public option (although she keeps pushing the trigger) than a Dem like Lincoln....most folks in Maine like Obama and want him - and our country - to succeed.

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mans_best_friend

September 14, 2009 4:38 PM in reply to ogliberal

What's the matter with (Ar)Kansas?

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Indie Pro

September 14, 2009 3:28 PM

The drug industry’s trade group plans to roll out a series of television advertisements in coming weeks specifically to support Senator Max Baucus’s health care overhaul proposal, according to an industry official involved in the planning.

The move would be a follow-up to the deal that drug makers struck in June with Mr. Baucus and the Obama.

http://prescriptions.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/09/12/drug-makers-plan-to-back-baucus-plan-with-ad-dollars/

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Indie Pro

September 14, 2009 3:31 PM in reply to Indie Pro

James Love, director of the liberal nonprofit research group Knowledge Ecology International, is one of those critics. “Essentially what the U.S. got was not $80 billion,” he said, “but $150 million in Obama campaign contributions.”

and the trade group?
the trade group, led by former Representative Billy Tauzin, a Republican from Louisiana, has contributed $12 million toward an advertising campaign coordinated by a coalition called Americans for Stable Quality Care.

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BTJ46

September 14, 2009 4:08 PM

After months of well financed teabagging and astroturf protests, almost all polls suggest that if a popular vote were held on health reform, including a strong and immediate public option, the reform would pass by margins equal to or greater than Obama's presidential victory. The problem is that only 535 (or now 534) people get a vote.

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midnight rambler

September 14, 2009 6:54 PM

They should specifically add a question to these polls - if Senator X votes for a public option, would that make you more or less likely to vote for them in the next election? Do enough of those and I bet that will start to get their attention.

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gharlane

September 14, 2009 10:34 PM

You see, Grasshopper, 55% of Arkansans may support a PO, but they are not the Arkansans who matter. It's all quite simple once you understand.

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eztempo

September 15, 2009 9:50 AM

With substantial majorities of voters supporting a gov't administered insurance plan, the Whip count of Pro- public option vs. Anti- is simply a measure of the extent to which our Congress has been bought by the Industry rather than any indication of popular sentiment.

It's a cynical calculation that voters will forget their support of effective reform by November 2010 or 2012 and be "on to other issues," and that the industry campaign money will be more decisive than the current opinion divide.

I don't think so. Democrats that follow their lobbyist money rather than their constituents WILL attract Primary challengers. And, they'll be vulnerable to ads charging cronyism and corruption. This, I believe, is one of those rare issues where voters are going to punish industry water-carriers when they get the chance.

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