Poll: How Damaging Is the Obamacare Rollout for the President's Second Term?

This article is from the archive of our partner

How much long-term damage, if any, is the rollout of the Affordable Care Act inflicting on President Obama's second term?

DEMOCRATS (83 VOTES)

Very serious damage: 24%
Somewhat serious damage: 54%
Little to no damage: 22%

Very serious damage

"Feeds the meme that Democrats can screw up a one-car parade."

"Pragmatic Americans will not hold out for hope; they want results."

"In the age of Amazon shopping and near flawless online hotel- and airline-reservation systems, the disastrous ACA website failures causing imminent loss of health insurance coverage can only be termed serious presidential administration malpractice."

Somewhat serious damage

"If they get it together and smooth out the kinks, it will be fine. Otherwise, it's a catastrophe."

"Inexcusable."

"Another unforced error that keeps him on the defensive and off message."

"As the crowning accomplishment of your administration, it's hard to understand how you didn't have this handled better. Just hard to explain in any way. And, since your campaign had the best systems and system administrators, how could you not translate that to government work?"

"It's legacy legislation that has tripped out of the gate."

"Will be extraordinarily serious if they blow through the self-imposed Nov. 30 deadline without fixing the problems."

Little to no damage

"If they fix it, it will be fine. If they don't, it will be a disaster."

"Two weeks, we're into the holidays — when we come out, it's back to government funding/budget."

"Once the rollout is complete and people see that they are much better off, it will have no long-term deleterious effect."

How much long-term damage, if any, is the rollout of the Affordable Care Act inflicting on President Obama's second term?

REPUBLICANS (89 VOTES)

Very serious damage: 72%
Somewhat serious damage: 25%
Little to no damage: 3%

Very serious damage

"He is now officially a lame duck."

"By not living up to its billing, Obama's signature act becomes his signature weakness."

"A president's credibility is a precious and nonrenewable resource."

"Obama needs catastrophic health insurance, because the ACA is a disaster."

"Looks like Joe Wilson was right. He lied, but Dem candidates will pay the price."

"After NSA, IRS, this now tips the scales."

"The Obamacare rollout is a rolling disaster. If the GOP will abandon stupid shutdown tactics and focus on making voters more aware of specifics, they can win seats."

"POTUS lied, which calls into question his own personal character. The other shoe has not fallen yet on this website debacle. Stay tuned."

"The core idea of liberalism is that government knows best. Confidence in government's competence is taking a huge, and lasting, hit."

"By March 2014, Democrats will be running to the Potomac."

"Obamacare will do for liberalism what the Hindenburg did for zeppelin passenger travel."

Somewhat serious damage

"It makes big government look incompetent."

"The website is the easy part."

"They've just reinforced every preconceived notion that people have about government's inefficiency and ineffectiveness."

. . . . . . . . . . . .

Democratic Political Insiders Jill Alper, John Anzalone, Brad Bannon, Dave Beattie, Andy Bechhoefer, Cornell Belcher, Matt Bennett, Mitchell W. Berger, Mike Berman, Stephanie Bosh, Paul Brathwaite, Donna Brazile, Mark Brewer, Ed Bruley, George Bruno, Bonnie Campbell, Bill Carrick, Guy Cecil, Martin J. Chavez, Tony Coelho, Larry Cohen, Jerry Crawford, Brendan Daly, Jeff Danielson, Peter Daou, Howard Dean, Scott DeFife, Jim Demers, Tad Devine, David Di Martino, Debbie Dingell, Monica Dixon, Patrick Dorton, Pat Dujakovich, Anita Dunn, Jeff Eller, Steve Elmendorf, Carter Eskew, Vic Fazio, Peter Fenn, Scott Ferson, Jim Fleischmann, Tina Flournoy, Don Foley, Jeffrey Forbes, Vincent Frillici, Gina Glantz, Niles Godes, John Michael Gonzalez, Joe Grandmaison, Anna Greenberg, Stan Greenberg, Pat Griffin, Larry Grisolano, Michael Gronstal, Lisa Grove, Marcia Hale, Jill Hanauer, Dick Harpootlian, Paul Harstad, Laura Hartigan, Doug Hattaway, Mike Henry, Karen Hicks, Leo Hindery Jr., Harold Ickes, Marcus Jadotte, John Jameson, Steve Jarding, Jonathon Jones, Jim Jordan, Gale Kaufman, Lisa Kountoupes, Celinda Lake, David Lang, Penny Lee, Chris Lehane, Jeff Link, Bob Maloney, Jim Manley, Steve Marchand, Jim Margolis, Paul Maslin, Keith Mason, Susan McCue, Gerald McEntee, Steve McMahon, Tom McMahon, Phil McNamara, David Medina, Michael Meehan, Mark Mellman, John Merrigan, Michael Monroe, Steve Murphy, Janet Napolitano, David Nassar, Marcia Nichols, John Norris, Tom Ochs, Tom O'Donnell, Jeffrey Peck, Debora Pignatelli, Tony Podesta, Jefrey Pollock, Jack Quinn, Larry Rasky, Mame Reiley, Ed Rendell, Steve Ricchetti, Will Robinson, Steve Rosenthal, David Rudd, Ryan Rudominer, John Ryan, Michael Sargeant, Stephanie Schriock, Terry Shumaker, Sean Sinclair, Phil Singer, Erik Smith, Doug Sosnik, Greg Speed, Darry Sragow, Ken Strasma, Doug Thornell, Jeffrey Trammell, Ed Turlington, Rick Wiener, James Williams, JoDee Winterhof, Brian Wolff, Jon Youngdahl, and Jim Zogby.

GOP Political Insiders Dan Allen, Stan Anderson, Gary Andres, Saulius (Saul) Anuzis, Rich Ashooh, Whit Ayres, Brett Bader, Mitch Bainwol, Brian Baker, Gary Bauer, David Beckwith, Paul Bennecke, Clark Benson, Wayne Berman, Brian Bieron, Charlie Black, Kirk Blalock, Carmine Boal, Jeff Boeyink, Ron Bonjean, Jeff Buley, Luke Byars, Nick Calio, Al Cardenas, Danny Carroll, Alex Castellanos, Ron Christie, Jim Cicconi, Jonathan Collegio, Rob Collins, Cesar Conda, Jake Corman, Scott Cottington, Jay Cranford, Greg Crist, Diane Crookham-Johnson, Fergus Cullen, Tom Davis, Mike Dennehy, Ken Duberstein, Debi Durham, Sara Fagen, Frank Fahrenkopf, John Feehery, Don Fierce, Mindy Finn, Carl Forti, Alex Gage, Bruce A. Gates, Sam Geduldig, Adam Geller, Benjamin Ginsberg, David Girard-diCarlo, Bill Greener, Jonathan Grella, Lanny Griffith, Janet Mullins Grissom, Doug Gross, Todd Harris, Steve Hart, Christopher Healy, Ralph Hellmann, Chris Henick, Terry Holt, David Iannelli, Ed Ingle, Jim Innocenzi, Clark Judge, David Keating, David Kensinger, Bob Kjellander, Ed Kutler, Chris LaCivita, Jim Lake, Steven Law, Steve Lombardo, Kevin Madden, Joel Maiola, Gary Maloney, David Marin, Mary Matalin, Dan Mattoon, Brian McCormack, Mark McKinnon, Kyle McSlarrow, Ken Mehlman, Jim Merrill, Lisa Camooso Miller, Tim Morrison, Mike Murphy, Phil Musser, Ron Nehring, Terry Nelson, Neil Newhouse, David Norcross, Ziad Ojakli, Jack Oliver, Todd Olsen, Kevin O'Neill, Connie Partoyan, Billy Piper, Van B. Poole, Tom Rath, Scott Reed, David Rehr, Tom Reynolds, Steve Roberts, Jason Roe, David Roederer, Dan Schnur, Russ Schriefer, Rich Schwarm, Brent Seaborn, Rick Shelby, Andrew Shore, Kevin Shuvalov, Don Sipple, Ken Spain, Fred Steeper, Bob Stevenson, Terry Sullivan, David Tamasi, Eric Tanenblatt, Richard Temple, Heath Thompson, Jay Timmons, Warren Tompkins, Ted Van Der Meid, Dirk van Dongen, Jan van Lohuizen, Stewart Verdery, Dick Wadhams, John Weaver, Lezlee Westine, Dave Winston, Ginny Wolfe, Fred Wszolek, and Matthew Zablud. 

How much long-term damage, if any, is the rollout of the Affordable Care Act inflicting on President Obama's second term?

DEMOCRATS (83 VOTES)

Very serious damage: 24%
Somewhat serious damage: 54%
Little to no damage: 22%

Very serious damage

"Feeds the meme that Democrats can screw up a one-car parade."

"Pragmatic Americans will not hold out for hope; they want results."

"In the age of Amazon shopping and near flawless online hotel- and airline-reservation systems, the disastrous ACA website failures causing imminent loss of health insurance coverage can only be termed serious presidential administration malpractice."

Somewhat serious damage

"If they get it together and smooth out the kinks, it will be fine. Otherwise, it's a catastrophe."

"Inexcusable."

"Another unforced error that keeps him on the defensive and off message."

"As the crowning accomplishment of your administration, it's hard to understand how you didn't have this handled better. Just hard to explain in any way. And, since your campaign had the best systems and system administrators, how could you not translate that to government work?"

"It's legacy legislation that has tripped out of the gate."

"Will be extraordinarily serious if they blow through the self-imposed Nov. 30 deadline without fixing the problems."

Little to no damage

"If they fix it, it will be fine. If they don't, it will be a disaster."

"Two weeks, we're into the holidays — when we come out, it's back to government funding/budget."

"Once the rollout is complete and people see that they are much better off, it will have no long-term deleterious effect."

How much long-term damage, if any, is the rollout of the Affordable Care Act inflicting on President Obama's second term?

REPUBLICANS (89 VOTES)

Very serious damage: 72%
Somewhat serious damage: 25%
Little to no damage: 3%

Very serious damage

"He is now officially a lame duck."

"By not living up to its billing, Obama's signature act becomes his signature weakness."

"A president's credibility is a precious and nonrenewable resource."

"Obama needs catastrophic health insurance, because the ACA is a disaster."

"Looks like Joe Wilson was right. He lied, but Dem candidates will pay the price."

"After NSA, IRS, this now tips the scales."

"The Obamacare rollout is a rolling disaster. If the GOP will abandon stupid shutdown tactics and focus on making voters more aware of specifics, they can win seats."

"POTUS lied, which calls into question his own personal character. The other shoe has not fallen yet on this website debacle. Stay tuned."

"The core idea of liberalism is that government knows best. Confidence in government's competence is taking a huge, and lasting, hit."

"By March 2014, Democrats will be running to the Potomac."

"Obamacare will do for liberalism what the Hindenburg did for zeppelin passenger travel."

Somewhat serious damage

"It makes big government look incompetent."

"The website is the easy part."

"They've just reinforced every preconceived notion that people have about government's inefficiency and ineffectiveness."

. . . . . . . . . . . .

Democratic Political Insiders Jill Alper, John Anzalone, Brad Bannon, Dave Beattie, Andy Bechhoefer, Cornell Belcher, Matt Bennett, Mitchell W. Berger, Mike Berman, Stephanie Bosh, Paul Brathwaite, Donna Brazile, Mark Brewer, Ed Bruley, George Bruno, Bonnie Campbell, Bill Carrick, Guy Cecil, Martin J. Chavez, Tony Coelho, Larry Cohen, Jerry Crawford, Brendan Daly, Jeff Danielson, Peter Daou, Howard Dean, Scott DeFife, Jim Demers, Tad Devine, David Di Martino, Debbie Dingell, Monica Dixon, Patrick Dorton, Pat Dujakovich, Anita Dunn, Jeff Eller, Steve Elmendorf, Carter Eskew, Vic Fazio, Peter Fenn, Scott Ferson, Jim Fleischmann, Tina Flournoy, Don Foley, Jeffrey Forbes, Vincent Frillici, Gina Glantz, Niles Godes, John Michael Gonzalez, Joe Grandmaison, Anna Greenberg, Stan Greenberg, Pat Griffin, Larry Grisolano, Michael Gronstal, Lisa Grove, Marcia Hale, Jill Hanauer, Dick Harpootlian, Paul Harstad, Laura Hartigan, Doug Hattaway, Mike Henry, Karen Hicks, Leo Hindery Jr., Harold Ickes, Marcus Jadotte, John Jameson, Steve Jarding, Jonathon Jones, Jim Jordan, Gale Kaufman, Lisa Kountoupes, Celinda Lake, David Lang, Penny Lee, Chris Lehane, Jeff Link, Bob Maloney, Jim Manley, Steve Marchand, Jim Margolis, Paul Maslin, Keith Mason, Susan McCue, Gerald McEntee, Steve McMahon, Tom McMahon, Phil McNamara, David Medina, Michael Meehan, Mark Mellman, John Merrigan, Michael Monroe, Steve Murphy, Janet Napolitano, David Nassar, Marcia Nichols, John Norris, Tom Ochs, Tom O'Donnell, Jeffrey Peck, Debora Pignatelli, Tony Podesta, Jefrey Pollock, Jack Quinn, Larry Rasky, Mame Reiley, Ed Rendell, Steve Ricchetti, Will Robinson, Steve Rosenthal, David Rudd, Ryan Rudominer, John Ryan, Michael Sargeant, Stephanie Schriock, Terry Shumaker, Sean Sinclair, Phil Singer, Erik Smith, Doug Sosnik, Greg Speed, Darry Sragow, Ken Strasma, Doug Thornell, Jeffrey Trammell, Ed Turlington, Rick Wiener, James Williams, JoDee Winterhof, Brian Wolff, Jon Youngdahl, and Jim Zogby.

GOP Political Insiders Dan Allen, Stan Anderson, Gary Andres, Saulius (Saul) Anuzis, Rich Ashooh, Whit Ayres, Brett Bader, Mitch Bainwol, Brian Baker, Gary Bauer, David Beckwith, Paul Bennecke, Clark Benson, Wayne Berman, Brian Bieron, Charlie Black, Kirk Blalock, Carmine Boal, Jeff Boeyink, Ron Bonjean, Jeff Buley, Luke Byars, Nick Calio, Al Cardenas, Danny Carroll, Alex Castellanos, Ron Christie, Jim Cicconi, Jonathan Collegio, Rob Collins, Cesar Conda, Jake Corman, Scott Cottington, Jay Cranford, Greg Crist, Diane Crookham-Johnson, Fergus Cullen, Tom Davis, Mike Dennehy, Ken Duberstein, Debi Durham, Sara Fagen, Frank Fahrenkopf, John Feehery, Don Fierce, Mindy Finn, Carl Forti, Alex Gage, Bruce A. Gates, Sam Geduldig, Adam Geller, Benjamin Ginsberg, David Girard-diCarlo, Bill Greener, Jonathan Grella, Lanny Griffith, Janet Mullins Grissom, Doug Gross, Todd Harris, Steve Hart, Christopher Healy, Ralph Hellmann, Chris Henick, Terry Holt, David Iannelli, Ed Ingle, Jim Innocenzi, Clark Judge, David Keating, David Kensinger, Bob Kjellander, Ed Kutler, Chris LaCivita, Jim Lake, Steven Law, Steve Lombardo, Kevin Madden, Joel Maiola, Gary Maloney, David Marin, Mary Matalin, Dan Mattoon, Brian McCormack, Mark McKinnon, Kyle McSlarrow, Ken Mehlman, Jim Merrill, Lisa Camooso Miller, Tim Morrison, Mike Murphy, Phil Musser, Ron Nehring, Terry Nelson, Neil Newhouse, David Norcross, Ziad Ojakli, Jack Oliver, Todd Olsen, Kevin O'Neill, Connie Partoyan, Billy Piper, Van B. Poole, Tom Rath, Scott Reed, David Rehr, Tom Reynolds, Steve Roberts, Jason Roe, David Roederer, Dan Schnur, Russ Schriefer, Rich Schwarm, Brent Seaborn, Rick Shelby, Andrew Shore, Kevin Shuvalov, Don Sipple, Ken Spain, Fred Steeper, Bob Stevenson, Terry Sullivan, David Tamasi, Eric Tanenblatt, Richard Temple, Heath Thompson, Jay Timmons, Warren Tompkins, Ted Van Der Meid, Dirk van Dongen, Jan van Lohuizen, Stewart Verdery, Dick Wadhams, John Weaver, Lezlee Westine, Dave Winston, Ginny Wolfe, Fred Wszolek, and Matthew Zablud. 

This article is from the archive of our partner National Journal.