Just How Damaging Was the Health Care Debate for Dems?

Two Gallup polls this week confirmed what’s become obvious – Democrats seem headed for an electoral bloodbath in this year’s congressional mid-term elections.

First, Gallup announced Republicans have the largest lead in the outfit’s history when voters are asked which party they prefer in the upcoming congressional elections. Then today, Gallup released a poll showing that voters believe Republicans handle terrorism, immigration, federal spending, the economy, Afghanistan, and jobs better than Democrats. (The Democrats are better on the environment, said those surveyed.)

The second Gallup poll also also showed that voters are evenly split on whether Republicans or Democrats would better handle health care. Democrats have historically been viewed as far more trustworthy on this issue, meaning this latest set of poll results feeds into an emerging conventional wisdom – that Democrats grossly underestimated the political damage of pushing through health care reform and that the issue is a primary reason Democrats are set up for big losses come November.

State Of The Union Set, Outlook Still Grim For Coakley

The White House announced today that Obama will give his State of The Union address on January 27, saving Lost fanatics a lot of heartache. Meanwhile, Nate Silver, at FiveThirtyEight.com, who correctly predicted all the Senate contests last cycle, says that Scott Brown is a 3 to 1 favorite going into tomorrow’s election against Martha [...]

A Christmas Gift for the Insurers?

I’m a little late on this, but had to share the latest evidence that investors in private health insurance companies feel they prevailed in their lobbying efforts over the Democratic health care bill. Here’s what happened after the Senate voted to break the Republican filibuster on Monday, according to the AP: