Gallup Poll: Health-Care Reform Now America's Most Divisive Issue

Today in public-opinion polls that shock no one, Gallup has a new survey showing American approval of Obama’s handling of health-care reform is down to an all-time low. A mere 36 percent of us think the president is doing a good job on the issue.

But, once again, dig a little deeper and you find some interesting stuff. Here’s what I’ve got:

First, despite months of delays, deadlock, and general grousing about the death of health-care reform, Democratic support for Obama’s handling of the issue remains weirdly high. It’s at 74 percent, just 3 points lower than it was back in August, when health-care reform looked much more like an inevitability.

This really shocks me, given all the hand-wringing over the future of the Democrats and their post-Brown blunders that have occupied the liberal blogosphere as of late. Can we chalk up the solid Democratic support  to some serious party loyalty? Perhaps consistent numbers are symptomatic of the fact that most Americans don’t seem to follow the health-care debate closely (Pew says only 32 percent knew that no Republican senators supported the bill). I don't know how to explain why Democratic support has not wavered, but this poll definitely indicates Obama has not actually lost much ground within his party on health-care reform.

Second interesting point: Republican support for Obama’s handling of health-care reform is at a mere 7 percent. The gap between Republican and Democratic support—67 points—is the largest for all issues that Gallup polled on, which includes terrorism (52-point gap on POTUS support) and the economy (56-point gap).

Again, this is a shift from August: back then, the economy was the most polarizing issue, with a 71-point gap between Democrats and Republicans. More than any other foreign or domestic policy, health-care reform has the dubious distinction of the most polarizing policy in terms of how you view Obama.  

These numbers help me understand the Republican opposition strategy, which, ever since Obama announced the health-care summit this weekend, has basically consisted of asking the president to shelve his bill and start from scratch. Politically, there’s no gain for Republicans to make by playing to the middle on health-care reform: Republican voters flat-out do not support the Obama approach.

Note that the polling was done early last week, from Feb. 1 to 3, before Obama announced his plan for the summit. So we should definitely be keeping our eyes out for a post-announcement poll to get a sense of whether, in the public-opinion sphere, that changes the debate.