Magellan Strategies (R) Massachusetts Survey on RomneyCare
Do you have a favorable or unfavorable opinion of the Massachusetts Health Care Plan that was enacted by Governor Mitt Romney and the Massachusetts Legislature in 2006?
- Very Favorable 15%
- Somewhat Favorable 15%
- Somewhat Unfavorable 17%
- Very Unfavorable 34%
- Total Favorable 30%
- Total Unfavorable 51%
Do you think the state of Massachusetts should keep the Health Care Plan or repeal it and replace it with something else?
- Repeal Health Care Plan and replace it 53%
- Keep Health Care Plan 29%
Do you think the Massachusetts Health Care Plan will help Mitt Romney’s presidential campaign, hurt Mitt Romney’s presidential campaign, or will it not make much of a difference at all?
- Help Romney’s campaign 13%
- Hurt Romney’s campaign 42%
- Not make much difference 43%
How would you describe Mitt Romney’s time as Governor of Massachusetts? Would you say he was a “Tea Party conservative” seeking drastic changes to reduce the size of government, or as an “Establishment Republican” willing to compromise with Democrats and maintain the status quo, or a “Moderate or Liberal Republican” who is economically conservative, but liberal on social issues like abortion and gay rights?
- Establishment Republican 40%
- Moderate or Liberal Republican 37%
- Tea Party Conservative 13%
Survey of 740 likely 2012 Massachusetts Republican Presidential primary voters was conducted April 25-26, 2011. The margin of error is +/- 3.6 percentage points. Party ID breakdown: 55% Republican; 45% Independent.
–Data compilation and analysis courtesy of The Argo Journal.
April 28th, 2011 at 9:14 pm
Time for Craig to sound the trumpets.
April 28th, 2011 at 9:18 pm
Ouch. This will be hard to overcome in the primaries.
Romney would have been a much stronger candidate (second only to Huck, imho) in the general compared to what’s in store for him trying to fight for the nomination.
Polls like these keep showing that RomneyCare/ObamaCare are both failures now and in the future…
And the architects are responsible.
April 28th, 2011 at 9:21 pm
Interesting, but not particularly meaningful. The only poll that matters is one of the general population, asking if they like the program or not. They certainly did when it was introduced, as did many Republican and Conservative groups and individuals – nortably Heritage and the MASS Taxpayers Foundation.
Opposing requiring the irresponsible to purchase their own insurance only came into fassion in the GOP when the libertarian idiots thought it was a useful tool to bash Obama with…so rather than saying he might have gotten ONE thing right, they’ll side with those who will be blatantly irresponsible, immature, and self-obsessed, and pawning their healthcare costs off on society.
For all the talk of “repeal and replace” – I have yet to see any Conservative step forward and present a program that provides the same amount of care that Romney’s does at a cheaper price. Not Daniels, Not Pawlenty, CERTAINLY not Huckabee, have come up with a proposal to match what Mitt did for less.
April 28th, 2011 at 10:06 pm
Well their Dem counterparts wanted it OVERWHELMINGLY when it was put up for a vote. So, move to a more conservative state or convert your fellow statemen. I would say.
April 28th, 2011 at 10:14 pm
I guess 51% of Mass. Republicans hate Mormons…
But in all seriousness, this shows that healthcare will be the main issue he will have to dodge in the GOP primary. If the numbers are this high in Mass. you can imagine the GOP primary voters perception of the plan in other states will show higher unfavorable numbers.
April 28th, 2011 at 10:16 pm
Ryan-Coburn is an interesting alternative to ObamaCare and RomneyCare, and is worth looking into for all who are still convinced that RomneyCare is the only solution.
April 28th, 2011 at 10:18 pm
Exactly, Nate.
April 28th, 2011 at 10:18 pm
So, we get an official definition of “Establishment Republican” – one who is “willing to compromise with Democrats and maintain the status quo”.
Anyway, the last poll above is basically making my point from the other thread of how I perceive Gov. Romney. Obviously, he had to deal with a Democrat legislature in a liberal state. But I want a candidate for 2012 who is more of a “Tea Party Conservative”.
April 28th, 2011 at 10:23 pm
No doubt HC will be Mitt’s biggest challenge. That is and never waqs a surprise.
I do smell a little moldy cheese about this poll however, when 2 of the 4 descriptions of Romney to be chosen are “Establishment Republican” or “Moderate/Liberal Republican.” Why not offer a vanilla conservative option?
April 28th, 2011 at 10:29 pm
Who let the dogs out?
Really, are Republicans in Massachusetts this dumb or are they allowing their dog press the buttons?
Tea Party Conservative? Not. A. Bit.
April 29th, 2011 at 1:08 am
So, despite what the small percentage of Republicans in Massachusetts (isn’t it like 15% of registered voters there? . . . pretty sure it’s the state with the smallest percentage of GOPers) think should happen to the CURRENT law (i.e. they likely view it as being made worse by their current Gov and Dem legislature) the poll also shows that a pretty strong MAJORITY of those polled feel that the law either would HELP Romney or have no effect on Romney’s run. 56% to 42%.
So it’s a minority of the MA Republicans that think RomneyCare will hurt Mitt. That’s a pretty significant finding and confirms what many of us Romney peeps think, that RomneyCare will not be an inescapable albatross for Romney.
April 29th, 2011 at 1:29 am
So the pro-Romney headline could read:
“Strong Majority of Massachusetts Republicans Doubt RomneyCare will Hurt Mitt’s Chances of becoming President”
Hey . . . the media plays games like that all the time!
April 29th, 2011 at 6:02 am
New questions for polling:
Q 1: What do you think of the Emergency Health Care legislation that was passed by President Reagan in 1986 that provides free health care to illegal aliens at taxpayer’s expense ?
Highly favorable ?
Highly favorable ?
Unfavorable ?
Highly Unfavorable ?
Q 2
o you believe this legislation, which has added so much cost to America’s budget should have a negative affect on President Reagan’s rating as a President ?
CraigS
April 29th, 2011 at 6:13 am
There are 740 Republicans in Massachusetts?
April 29th, 2011 at 7:02 am
Boy, sure doesn’t jive with the Company Line.
Rombots have told us for years that MA loves RomneyCare!
April 29th, 2011 at 7:46 am
15 MWS . . .
Just half of the GOPers in the state want it repealed according to this poll. Since that’s half of 15% of the state then we’re talking less than 8% of the state. The remaining 85% of the state that are not Republicans are WAY less likely to want it repealed. Wish they would have polled those.
And some people there want it repealed now not because of outright opposition, but because ObamaCare was passed and they view MassCare + ObamaCare as double spending and would rather have the Feds foot the bill rather than their own state money. This was a major point of emphasis for Scott Brown in running and winning in MA, that they already had RomneyCare and therefore he would vote against ObamaCare so they wouldn’t have to pay the feds extra (via the proposed and future tax hikes on the federal level) for something they were taking care of themselves.
This poll is somewhat misleading in that context.
April 29th, 2011 at 7:59 am
I’m sure it’s just an outlier Craig. That’s the line to use, right?
April 29th, 2011 at 8:15 am
Matthew,
“They certainly did (like MassCare) when it was introduced”
Lots of big government freebies are popular when first started. Then the bill arrives in the form of higher taxes, increased costs, less freedom, etc……
April 29th, 2011 at 8:17 am
Jeff,
Yes, there is a big caveat here in that they are only asking Republicans and Republican leaning Indies. I’m guessing the program does fare better among Massachusetts liberals. Ted Kennedy was a big booster, after all.
The trouble for Romney is that he has to face the conservative voters first, and the liberals aren’t going to vote for him anyway.
April 29th, 2011 at 8:20 am
Craig S,
#13
Is your point that since Reagan’s legacy survived a horrible decision, that Mitt’s similarly can as well?
April 29th, 2011 at 8:23 am
Jeff,
“And some people there want it repealed now not because of outright opposition, but because ObamaCare was passed and they view MassCare + ObamaCare as double spending and would rather have the Feds foot the bill rather than their own state money.”
That’s a dubious assumption considering the % of people who want it repealed (53%) is almost identical to the % who have an unfavorable opinion of it (51%). Likewise, the % who oppose repeal (29%) is almost identical to the % who view it favorably (30%).
If your theory had any merit, we should see a sizable overlap in the % who favor it, and the % who want it repealed. But that just isn’t there.
April 29th, 2011 at 8:32 am
Matt “MWS”
At least we don’t have to listen to Jeff and others talk about the so-called 84% approval for MASSCARE anymore.
If the Romney supporters truly fell for that poll, which was done by a marketing group in favor of MASSCARE, what other stuff does the ROMBOTS fall for?
When Mitt falls down because of Romneycare…. this place……..I don’t know what the hell….some people are going to do?
It’s going to be a fun to watch.
April 29th, 2011 at 8:48 am
Matt ( MWS ) 20
My point is that the more years you put on legislation, the less apparent is what you signed and the more open to subsequent modification legislation is. Romney signed the law in 2006 and ran for office in 2008. Didn’t seem to come up nationally in 2008 or in Massachusetts. The 2006 law has certainly been changed by 2011, just as Reagan’s 1986 law has been corrupted by misuse since Reagan’s time. Obviously, nobody faults Reagan, but the law is financially killing the states
CraigS
April 29th, 2011 at 10:07 am
Those are very interesting numbers from the people who know most about it.
April 29th, 2011 at 10:13 am
Smack -
“When Mitt falls down because of Romneycare…. this place……..I don’t know what the hell….some people are going to do?”
IF, and I am talking big IF, because I don’t believe it will sink him, the MassCare becomes his downfall then I will gladly join forces with the cadidate to be in order to remove the man currently occupying the chair in the oval office so that we can make steps to getting our country back.
Until then I will be full charge ahead on getting Romney into the generals.
April 29th, 2011 at 11:09 am
22 – It’s completely possible that the 84% number is still right. Probably not that high, but not too much lower either. Do you know how to do math?
April 29th, 2011 at 2:00 pm
There’s going to be a lot of folks changing their handles when/if Huck is our nominee.
Can suggest “Rombots for Huck”?
April 29th, 2011 at 10:57 pm
Likely Republican Presidential primary voters… so about 5% of the general population?
Even as it, this poll has little meaning. They should have also asked them how they liked the previous health care system to give this poll some context. I’d bet they complain as much about the previous plan, and would complain 10 times as much about any of the other plans that have and will be considered.
November 17th, 2011 at 2:43 am
Anyone know Álvaro Siza Homepage?
February 22nd, 2012 at 10:08 pm
[...] an April 2011 Magellan Strategies survey of 740 likely Massachusetts Republican Presidential primary vo…, 40 percent of Massachusetts’ residents saw Romney as willing to compromise with Democrats and [...]