Poll: Ryan Plan Not Hurting Republicans With Voters

Democrats would like people to believe that supporting the Ryan Plan’s Medicare changes is so unpopular with the public that it will hurt the GOP at the polls, but that’s not necessarily the case:

Wall Street Journal/NBC poll asks Americans whether they would be more likely or less likely to vote for a candidate who “supports changing Medicare for those under 55 to a system where people choose their insurance from a list of private health plans and the government pays a fixed amount, sometimes called a voucher, towards that cost.”

The results: 38% are more likely to vote for a candidate who supports Ryan’s Medicare reform, 37% are less likely to vote for that candidate, while 18% say it makes “no difference” in determining their vote, and 7% are not sure.

If that number stands, that’s pretty great news for Republicans.

I would say so, and it’s also bad news for Democrats who think that relying on “Mediscare” tactics to win at the polls.

FILED UNDER: Deficit and Debt, Healthcare Policy, Public Opinion Polls, US Politics, , ,
Doug Mataconis
About Doug Mataconis
Doug Mataconis held a B.A. in Political Science from Rutgers University and J.D. from George Mason University School of Law. He joined the staff of OTB in May 2010 and contributed a staggering 16,483 posts before his retirement in January 2020. He passed far too young in July 2021.

Comments

  1. Dave says:

    It matters more where those 38% and 37% come from. If the 37% are swing voters (not partisan Dems), Republicans are screwed.

    Also, let’s fiddle around a bit with the wording of this question and see how crazy we can make the results swing.

  2. ratufa says:

    Also, let’s fiddle around a bit with the wording of this question and see how crazy we can make the results swing.

    Yes. I can imagine that many people’s first impression of the question was something like, “How would you like to choose among private insurers and have the government pay most/all of the cost?”

    Who wouldn’t like that?

  3. An Interested Party says:

    During next year’s election season, if a whole slew of “throw grandma off a cliff” TV commercials are aired, we’ll really see what effect Ryan’s plan will have on the GOP…

  4. hey norm says:

    I have one word for you…NY-26

  5. Gustopher says:

    Please Republicans, please run on VoucherCare.

    (and yes, I know the name VoucherCare is inaccurate — the vouchers are not expected to cover the full cost and a lot of seniors will have no health care.)

  6. OzarkHillbilly (used to be tom p) says:

    Doug, you go with that, please, pretty please???? If Ryans plan is such a winner, why won’t the house leadership allow Dems to put out their mailings calling “voucher care” “VOUCHER CARE”????

    Doug, you go….

  7. Hey Norm says:

    @ Oz…

    Take that a step further…if it’s such a great plan why wait ten years???

  8. André Kenji says:

    That reminds me of polling showing support for Health care reform…

  9. The first comment is right… depends entirely where those votes who would be less likely to support a candidate like that would be coming from.

    I hate it when people do this, but this is an example where the wording is vague enough that it doesn’t really get to the point.

    A lot of people don’t understand what this MEANS, and especially how it would effect their parents, themselves and their kids. On issues like this, the only sort of poll that works is the educational kind, that talks about how this would greatly help our deficit problems, but would lead to a lot of seniors not being able to get full health coverage when they retire. Only then would we really know what people think.