Americans Want Obamacare Repeal, Worry It’s Less Likely

National   |   Steven Ertelt   |   Jul 2, 2012   |   10:21AM   |   Washington, DC

Now that the U.S. Supreme Court has upheld Obamacare, polling data released today by Rasmussen Reports indicates a majority of Americans — as they have since its passage, want the law repealed. However, they worry repeal is unlikely.

The latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey shows that 52% of Likely U.S. Voters favor repeal of the health care law, while 39% are opposed. That’s little changed from a week ago and support for repeal has barely budged since the law was passed. The latest numbers include 44% who Strongly Favor repeal and 30% who are Strongly Opposed to it.

“The U.S. Supreme Court declared that President Obama’s health care law is constitutional, but they were unable to make it popular,” said pollster Scott Rasmussen.

Additionally, while most voters still hope for repeal, the belief that it will happen has fallen sharply.  Just 39% now believe repeal is even somewhat likely, down from 61% last week. Forty-five percent (45%) now consider repeal unlikely and 15% are not sure.

Rasmussen’s most recent newspaper column suggests that “The Supreme Court ruling is a temporary reprieve more than anything else.”  He adds that defending the law is “going to be a heavy burden for the Obama campaign to bear.” Confirming that perspective, White House Chief of Staff Jack Lew and other Democrats have indicated a desire to shift the campaign away from the health care debate.

“As has been the case since the law was passed, senior citizens are more supportive of repeal than younger voters. In fact, voters under 40 are almost evenly divided on the question. Middle income voters are more likely to support repeal than those in both upper and lower income brackets,” Rasmsusen said about its poll. “Thirty-seven percent (37%) of voters think the health care law will be good for the country. Forty-nine percent (49%) disagree and believe it will be bad for America. Forty-three percent (43%) feel repeal of the law would be good for the economy, while 27% say it would hurt the economy. Fifteen percent (15%) think repeal would have no economic impact, but 15% more are not sure. Thirty-three percent (33%) believe repeal would create new jobs while 36% disagree. Thirty-one percent (31%) are not sure.”

Meanwhile, a Sunday Rasmussen survey found public opinion of the Supreme Court has grown more negative since the highly publicized ruling on the Obamacare was released. A growing number now believe that the high court is too liberal and that justices pursue their own agenda rather than acting impartially.

“A week ago,  36% said the court was doing a good or an excellent job. That’s down to 33% today. However, the big change is a rise in negative perceptions. Today, 28% say the Supreme Court is doing a poor job. That’s up 11 points over the past week,” Rasmussen said.

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The new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey, conducted on Friday and Saturday following the court ruling, finds that 56% believe justices pursue their own political agenda rather than generally remain impartial. That’s up five points from a week ago. Just half as many — 27% — believe the justices remain impartial. Thirty-seven percent (37%) now believe the Supreme Court is too liberal, while 22% think it’s too conservative. A week ago, public opinion was much more evenly divided:  32% said it was too liberal and 25% said too conservative. In the latest survey, 31% now believe the balance is about right.

The Obamacare repeal survey of 1,000 Likely Voters was conducted on June 29-30, 2012 by Rasmussen Reports. The margin of sampling error is +/- 3 percentage points with a 95% level of confidence.