Excerpt
In terms of keeping promises, Wednesday's vote to repeal the health reform law stands as a significant checkmark on the House Republican agenda, but what does it mean outside of Washington? Maybe not as much as GOP leaders hope.
The overwhelming number of 12 Patchwork Nation community types (opens in new page) are not especially interested in repealing the new law, according to an analysis of a new survey from the Pew Research Center for the People & the Press.
Only two county types -- the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints-adherent heavy Mormon Outposts and the socially conservative Evangelical Epicenters -- are close to or above 50 percent in the number of people who say they want the law repealed. In the other 10 county types with a wide range of demographic and voter makeups, solid majorities say they would like to see the health care law expanded or left alone.
Does that mean the repeal vote, certain to be ignored by the Democratic Senate, was a waste of time for the House Republicans? Not necessarily.
When people are given three choices on the reform bill -- expand it, repeal it or leave it as is -- many communities are pretty divided and in some places a plurality says it would like to see the law repealed. One of those community types is the swing-voting Monied Burbs, which will be crucial to both parties in 2012.
If you look at the numbers a little more closely, you might see the outlines of a possible wedge issue for the next presidential race.
(see table below)
Where's the Anger?
Considering all that has been made out of how divided Americans are supposed to be about health care reform -- and the role that supposedly played in the midterm vote, as the GOP contends -- how does one explain these numbers?
Well, by some measures people are unhappy with the law. If you ask people whether they approve or disapprove of the legislation, large majorities in more than half of the 12 Patchwork Nation community types say they disapprove. But some of that disapproval may be for different reasons -- some may want a broader bill -- and, regardless, disapproval does not necessarily mean you want the law repealed.
And in truth, when you get beyond the loud political disapproval in some places, there are a lot of communities in Patchwork Nation that might have good reason to like expanding health coverage.
Source: Patchwork Nation analysis of Pew Research Center for the People & the Press poll(click for better view)
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