GOP Benefitting From The Health Care Debate...Comeback In 2010, 2012!

Polls Suggest GOP Candidates May Benefit from Health Care Debate


Republicans may be able to use the current health care debate to their advantage in upcoming elections, some polls suggest.

Two Quinnipiac Polls released Thursday show Republican Senate candidates in Connecticut and Ohio gaining ground as voters in those states show increasing dissatisfaction with Democrats' health care reform effort.

Former Connecticut Congressman Rob Simmons, the leading contender for the 2010 Republican Senate nomination, is leading Democratic incumbent Chris Dodd 49 percent to 38 percent, according to the poll. Simmons increased his lead over Dodd by six percent since September.

Meanwhile, 48 percent of voters in Connecticut said they disapprove of the way President Obama is handling health care, compared with 45 percent who approve. In September, more people approved by a two-point margin.

In Ohio, former GOP Rep. Rob Portman inches ahead of his two Democratic opponents for the first time. Ohio voters oppose Mr. Obama's health care plan 55 percent to 36 percent after being nearly split on the issue in September.

The Hill newspaper points out the Quinnipiac polls are the first major Senate surveys since the House passed its health care bill last week.

Dodd took the lead on health care in a key Senate panel after the death of Sen. Ted Kennedy, and Connecticut Democratic Party spokeswoman Colleen Flanagan told the Hill that his high profile on the issue is actually helping him.

"In truth, we have a hard time believing Chris Dodd has done anything but strengthen his political position based on his well-publicized and heroic work on healthcare reform," she said.

Meanwhile, a Gallup poll released today shows that more Americans say the federal government should not make sure all Americans have health care coverage than say it should take on that responsibility. (Fifty percent say no, while 47 percent say yes.) This is the first time more Americans said it was not the government's responsibility since Gallup began tracking this question in 2001.


Sources: CBS News, Quinnipiac University Polls, Flickr