Americans remain divided over healthcare overhaul, poll shows
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More Americans say they would urge their congressman to vote against President Obama’s healthcare overhaul than for it, according to the latest Gallup poll released Tuesday.
According to the poll, 45% say they favor the overhaul and 48% oppose it. The high point in public support was 51% in October.
The latest findings are based on telephone interviews with a random sample of 1,014 adults, conducted March 4-7. The sampling error is plus or minus four percentage points.
The poll comes as Obama pushes for a House vote on healthcare by March 18, the day he leaves for a trip to Asia. House leaders have said they are unsure they can meet that date.
The House needs 216 votes to pass the Senate version of healthcare overhaul. Then the House will pass some corrective bills that go back to the Senate, which will vote on those measures using a process called reconciliation.
Under reconciliation, the Senate will only need a simple majority rather than the 60-vote super majority Democrats no longer control.
House leaders are working to find the needed votes among Democrats who are split over some of the issues including language on abortion, the overall approach and financial details.
But Speaker Nancy Pelosi sounded an optimistic tone on Tuesday in remarks to the 2010 Legislative Conference for the National Assn. of Counties in Washington.
“We stand at the doorstep of history, ready to realize a centuries-old dream started by a Republican president, Teddy Roosevelt,” Pelosi said of the pending healthcare vote in her chamber.
“We must have the courage, though, to get the job done. We have the ideas. We have the commitment. We have the dedication. We know the urgency. Now we have to have the courage to get the job done,” she said.
-- Michael Muskal
