Serious Implications

According to a new poll put out by USA Today/Gallup, The new Health Care Reform bill is picking up support among the public. An excerpt:

All in all, do you think it was a good thing or a bad thing Congress passed this bill?

Good thing 49%
Bad thing 40%
No opinion 11%

Asked a bit differently:

Which of the following best describes your emotional reaction to the House passing the health care bill (enthusiastic, pleased, disappointed (or) angry?

Enthusiastic 15%
Pleased 35%
Disappointed 23%
Angry 19%

The poll authors offered the following assessment:

Passage of healthcare reform was a clear political victory for President Obama and his allies in Congress. While it also pleases most of his Democratic base nationwide, it is met with greater ambivalence among independents and with considerable antipathy among Republicans. Whether these groups’ views on the issue harden or soften in the coming months could be crucial to how healthcare reform factors into this year’s midterm elections. Given that initial public reaction to Sunday’s vote is more positive than recent public opinion about passing a healthcare reform bill, it appears some softening has already occurred.

Americans like a winner.