Nearly half (45%) of voters say their vote was a message to oppose President Obama’s health care reform plan.

This article was co-authored by Bill McInturff and Liz Harrington.

Public Opinion Strategies conducted a national telephone survey of 1,000 actual voters on election night.

  1. Health care reform was very much a key part of the debate this election with nearly seven in ten voters (69{09f965da52dc6ab4c1643a77bd40d1f729d807040cd8db540234bb981a782222}) saying they have seen, read, or heard a Congressional candidate advertising on the topic of “the changes to the health care system that have been enacted by Congress and the Obama Administration.”  This is up significantly from the 42{09f965da52dc6ab4c1643a77bd40d1f729d807040cd8db540234bb981a782222} recall in our October pre-election survey.
  2. The health care advertising could not be clearer to those respondents who recall seeing it in terms of message: 70{09f965da52dc6ab4c1643a77bd40d1f729d807040cd8db540234bb981a782222} say the ad was in opposition to the Obama plan, 8{09f965da52dc6ab4c1643a77bd40d1f729d807040cd8db540234bb981a782222} in support, with another 20{09f965da52dc6ab4c1643a77bd40d1f729d807040cd8db540234bb981a782222} of voters saying they recall advertising on both sides of the issue.
  3. This election was a clear signal that voters do not want President Obama’s health care plan.  Nearly half (45{09f965da52dc6ab4c1643a77bd40d1f729d807040cd8db540234bb981a782222}) of voters say their vote was a message to oppose the President’s plan, while 28{09f965da52dc6ab4c1643a77bd40d1f729d807040cd8db540234bb981a782222} said it was a message in support.  This opposition is higher among Independents and voters in the 100 target House seats.

Please see the attached charts for more information. (PDF format)

Public Opinion Strategies