Who wants to repeal Obamacare? How many are pro-repeal?

Have implementation problems with Obamacare led to most Americans wanting to repeal the law?

A new national poll is out, asking people if they want to repeal the Affordable Care Act.

Overall, 38% support full repeal.  But there are big differences by demographic group and political party.

As the graph on the left shows, the only groups that want to repeal the law are Republicans (74%) and whites who are not college graduates (53%).

And, as the graph on the right shows, there’s been a small change in the percentage who want repeal. This view increased from 36% to 38% between July and November 2013.

However, when broken down by political party, all of the increase in pro-repeal sentiment came from Republicans.

In July, 65% of Republicans supported repeal. Now 74% do.

Democrats did not budge at all. Only 9% supported repeal in July and the same is true now.

Independents barely changed. In July, 41% wanted to repeal the law. Now 40% do.

Previous polls showed that more Americans say they oppose the ACA than support it, but there was not support for repealing the law. (Those polls also show that dislike of the law includes people who believe the law is “too liberal” and those who say it’s “not liberal enough.”) This is yet another poll demonstrating that most Americans do not want the law repealed.

At the same time, the poor implementation has undermined Obama’s political position

Another poll out today found that President Obama’s approval ratings have taken a hit. He’s down to 42% approval. Approval for how he’s implemented the law is a paltry 33%.

But, when asked whether Obama “intentionally misled the American people” about being able to keep their insurance plans or whether he “told the American people what he believed to be true,” 44% say he was intentionally misleading and 52% say he believed what he said.

This poll did not ask about repealing the Affordable Care Act. It did find support for delaying the mandate because of website problems (71%). The mandate has always been the least popular part of the ACA.

Clearly the bad roll-out of the insurance marketplace mattered — both politically and for people’s ability to sign up for insurance. But most Americans do not want to see the law repealed.

Amy Fried

About Amy Fried

Amy Fried loves Maine's sense of community and the wonderful mix of culture and outdoor recreation. She loves politics in three ways: as an analytical political scientist, a devoted political junkie and a citizen who believes politics matters for people's lives. Fried is Professor of Political Science at the University of Maine. Her views do not reflect those of her employer or any group to which she belongs.