Poll: Dems rally behind ObamaCare

The public remains split over ObamaCare, but Democrats have rallied behind the law to keep support steady in March, according to a Washington Post/ABC News poll released on Monday.

{mosads}Forty-nine percent support the law, against 48 percent who oppose it, the survey said. That’s up from 46 percent who said they supported it last month, and 49 percent who said they opposed it. It’s an even bigger climb from the 40-57 split in the same poll from November.

Support for the Affordable Care Act is buoyed by Democrats, whose support for the law bounced from 65 percent in January to 76 percent in March.

Still, about the same number of people, 47 percent, said they support Republican efforts to repeal or replace the law, with 49 percent saying they oppose those efforts.

The law remains extremely unpopular among Republicans and independents. A majority of independents, 54 percent, oppose the healthcare law, against only 44 percent who say they support it.

The first-ever open enrollment period closes on Monday, and after an extremely rocky start, the Obama administration hopes to have momentum coming out of March and into the November midterm elections. 

The administration said 6 million people had selected a plan through the middle of March, and the long-expected flood of last-minute enrollees could push the administration near an original estimate of 7 million enrollees.

Democrats face a tough election map in 2014, and need support for the president and his signature legislative achievement to move positively between now and November. While a majority, 54 percent, continue to disapprove of President Obama’s handling of the law, 44 percent now approve, up from 33 percent in November, according to the poll.


Republicans have vowed to make ObamaCare the primary focus of the 2014 midterm elections, and have already begun hammering vulnerable Democrats for supporting the law. Democrats are just now saying they plan to go on the offensive over the healthcare law.

The Post/ABC News poll of 1,017 adults was conducted between March 26 and March 30 and has a 3.5-percentage-point margin of error.