In a rare bit of good news for Democrats, a new Associated Press-GfK poll finds a significant turnaround in public sentiment toward the health care reform bill approved by Congress earlier this year. According to AP, 45 percent of those surveyed approve of the bill and 42 percent oppose.
At first glance, those aren't amazing numbers, but the same poll found 50 percent opposed the bill back in March, when President Obama signed the measure into law. Just last month, supporters were outnumbered 39 percent to 46 percent. (You can see the poll's full results here.)
Why the turnaround? AP says support has been growing among men (from 36 percent to 46 percent in favor) and Americans ages 30 to 49 (from 35 percent to 49 percent approval). Even Republicans have eased up a little. In May, only 8 percent liked the bill; now that's up to 17 percent. Still, 56 percent of Americans older than 65 hate the bill — a number virtually unchanged since the spring.
— Holly Bailey is a senior politics writer for Yahoo! News.
At first glance, those aren't amazing numbers, but the same poll found 50 percent opposed the bill back in March, when President Obama signed the measure into law. Just last month, supporters were outnumbered 39 percent to 46 percent. (You can see the poll's full results here.)
Why the turnaround? AP says support has been growing among men (from 36 percent to 46 percent in favor) and Americans ages 30 to 49 (from 35 percent to 49 percent approval). Even Republicans have eased up a little. In May, only 8 percent liked the bill; now that's up to 17 percent. Still, 56 percent of Americans older than 65 hate the bill — a number virtually unchanged since the spring.
— Holly Bailey is a senior politics writer for Yahoo! News.