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Democrats Gear Up to Try
to Sway Public Opinion on ObamaCare
Part One of Three By Dave Andrusko Parts Two and Three today are two more fine pro-life essays. Over at "National Right to Life News Today" (www.nationalrighttolifenews.org), you'll find commentary on a fascinating--in a morbid sort of way--piece by Peter Singer; a blog entry by Wesley Smith; and a profile of pro-life singer Jaime Thietten. Please send all of your comments to daveandrusko@gmail.com. If you like join all those who are now following me on Twitter at http://twitter.com/daveha. What do the following two headlines have in common? "Health Care Law: 58% Favor Repeal of Health Care Law" (from today's Rasmussen Reports) and "Dems launch $125M health campaign" (from today's Politico). They tell us that the American public deeply opposes ObamaCare and that with the 2010 elections less than six month away, Democrats are so worried they are desperately trying to hoodwink Americans into thinking that commandeering one-sixth of the American economy benefits the country.
However, if you were to look at the numbers behind the Rasmussen numbers, you'd likely conclude that $125 million is not nearly enough to fund what amounts to an attempt at political alchemy--turning health care lead into health care gold. Three quick Rasmussen number. While 58% now favor repeal of the bill (48% strongly so), only 35% are opposed to repealing the health care "reform" measure (28% strongly so). Second, in a period of rising concern about spiraling deficits, a whopping 62% of the 1,000 likely voters survived "expect the new health care plan to drive up the deficit, while only 12% think it will reduce the deficit." Even worse, over half (51%) say the quality of care will get worse while less than a quarter (23%) believe the quality will improve. Third, and finally, exactly half believe ObamaCare will be bad for American, versus 38% of voters "believe the health care plan will be good for the country." So it's up and at 'em for the Obama Administration. The lead paragraphs of Politico's Mike Allen's story nicely summarize what the $125 million is attempting to accomplish: "Former Senate Democratic leader Tom Daschle and Victoria Kennedy, the late senator's wife, are expected to be named co-chairs this week of a $125 million campaign White House allies are rolling out to defend health reform amid growing signs the party is failing to get political traction on the issue. "The extraordinary campaign, which could provide an unprecedented amount of cover for a White House in a policy debate, reflects urgency among Democrats to explain, defend and depoliticize health reform now that people are beginning to feel the new law's effects." Something called "The Health Information Center" (which will have a staff of 10-15 people) is being started by a veteran Democratic hack, and included among the board members is Sheila O'Connell, described as a "longtime political director" for EMILY's List. Emily's List supports only the most hardened pro-abortion female Democrats. Allen reports that pro-abortion President Obama will initiate a series of "high-profile health-reform events heading into the November election," beginning tomorrow. The "center's rollout is part of a Democratic Party-wide effort to bolster support for health reform as the provisions begin kicking in," he reports. Obama will make creative use of electronic venues. For example, as part of "100 simultaneous events nationwide," he'll be on the phone at a large Montgomery County (Maryland) senior center Tuesday, holding a "national tele-town hall" meeting. As part of an attempt at self-hypnosis, one of Obama's pollsters has produced a memo circulated by the Democratic National Committee. According to Joel Benenson, "As misinformation about President Obama's health care reforms give way to Americans' real-life experience with it, voters are slowly becoming increasingly comfortable with the law and resistant to Republican efforts to repeal it." At the same time the Obama Administration is busy promoting its view, Obama and Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Reid are trying to ram through the DISCLOSE Act that would, among other tings, entangle and muffle organizations like NRLC that want to present the public with a contrary view about what Congress did. (See http://www.nrlc.org/News_and_Views/May10/nv052810part3.html) Please send your comments to daveandrusko@gmail.com. |
