On Wednesday's CBS This Morning, Norah O'Donnell zeroed in on her network's latest poll that found that "more Americans than ever want the health care law repealed". However, she tried to explain it away by asserting that the public just needed to be educated: "This is the same problem the White House has faced from the very beginning about a lack of understanding about what is involved in ObamaCare." In the CBS News poll, 54 percent disapprove of ObamaCare.
NBC's Chuck Todd also briefly noted at an end of a report that an "all-time record low of people in our poll thinks his health care law is a good idea – just 34 percent" on Wednesday's NBC Nightly News. However, ABC has yet to report on their latest poll on ObamaCare on their morning and evening newscasts.
O'Donnell mentioned the recent poll figure near the end of a segment with CBS News political director John Dickerson. An on-screen graphic backed up the anchor's "lack of understanding" claim about the Affordable Care Act: "Health Care Confusion: CBS News Poll: Americans Remain Skeptical". She wondered "what's the White House doing" with regard to the controversial law.
Dickerson replied that "this is another chronic issue", and continued by outlining the Obama administration's push:
JOHN DICKERSON: ...[T]here's an operational part to this, which is that the White House has got to get people to sign up for these health exchanges, particularly younger, healthier Americans. And so, they are tactically running a campaign much like the presidential campaign – reaching out, using the techniques of that campaign – to get younger people to sign up for these health exchanges. And the – the feeling basically is, again, speeches aren't going to change public opinion. This has got to start taking hold. People have been – start signing up, and the White House hopes good things will start to happen once it kicks in, and that might turn around public opinion. But that's a ways away.
Wednesday's NBC Nightly News failed to put up an accompanying graphic when Todd cited the 34 percent approval rating for ObamaCare. The evening newscast did put up chyrons on the all-time low approval rating of Congress; President Obama's lowest approval rating in two years; what Americans think about the direction of the country; how people rate Republicans on their relationship with President Obama; and how effective people rate President Obama regarding the final years of his second term.
ABC News/Washington Post released their latest poll results on Wednesday as well, but as of Thursday morning, they have yet to detail them on the air. That poll found that 49 percent oppose ObamaCare and 42 percent support it. Forty-eight percent also think the law is "so flawed it should be dropped".
The transcripts of the John Dickerson segment from Wednesday's CBS This Morning and the Chuck Todd report from Wednesday's NBC Nightly News is available at MRC.org.
