You Can't Compromise Away What Is Not In The Bill

The new NBC/WSJ poll is being interpreted by some as evidence that opposition is growing against the President's health care plan, but reading the whole poll tells a different story.

And unlike other news outlets in recent weeks, kudos to NBC for actually telling the story of its own poll: opposition is largely based on items not in the bill, while support is solid for what is in the bill.

The poll finds bad numbers for the bill in the abstract. Only 36% say "Barack Obama's health care plan" is a "good idea" and only 41% approve of the president's handling of health care.

But as NBC's Chuck Todd reported today, "large numbers of Americans still believe the myths about the Obama health care plan" with numbers ranging from 45% to 55% expressing belief that the bill would cover immigrants here illegally, pay for abortions, and give the government power to kill the elderly. Todd won't characterize this as "myth," but the poll also shows belief in the fallacy that the bill would lead to a "government takeover" of the health care industry.

Furthermore, Todd also notes: "After being read a statement that includes actual details of the Obama health care plan, a majority, 53%, say they are in favor of it, while only 43% oppose it."

This is a failure of communication, not a failure of policy.

You don't solve that problem by taking away provisions that have public support, and making foolish compromises that undermine the effectiveness of the bill.

Granted, it's not so simple to just exhort leaders in Washington to do a better job of fighting the right-wing smears. Anyone watching this debate know that the White House and the congressional leadership have worked tirelessly to try to do that. Fighting smears is simply hard, especially with a media more interested in whipping up heat than shedding light.

But skittish congresspeople should recognize that if the problem is people believing in things that are not in the bill and will not happen, they should not fear political fallout.

As President Bill Clinton, who knows a thing or two about politics, said last week at Netroots Nation:

The minute the President signs the health care reform bill, approval will go up because Americans are inherently optimistic. Secondly, within a year, within a year, when all those bad things they say are going to happen, don't happen, and the good things do begin to happen, approval will explode.

The NBC/WSJ poll makes that point crystal clear. Whatever concern that is out there, aside from the knee-jerk opposition from the right-wing extreme, it is based on things that will not occur.

Frankly, there are worse problems to have.

Because that is not solved with politically difficult compromise, but simply by pushing on.

Views expressed on this page are those of the authors and not necessarily those of Campaign for America's Future or Institute for America's Future