THOSE TEABAGGING SCREAMERS ARE REALLY MOVING THE NEEDLE, AREN'T THEY?

From CNN's latest poll (story here; data in this PDF) -- click to enlarge:



All that work to kill reform and the result is a mere one-point drop in approval.

So I guess that's why the strategy this time around -- unlike 1993 -- is to send people out to howl in protest: because the opponents have determined that support for change, even if it's not passionate support, nevertheless persists in the general public, even in the face of right-wing propaganda. The figurative "noise machine" is apparently not capable of changing enough minds this time around, so the opponents are resorting to literal noise -- if they can't make the public turn against the idea of reform, they can create the illusion of opposition by "the people."

By contrast, propaganda worked well last time around, to judge from Clinton-era CNN poll numbers (again, click to enlarge):



Compare that to this chronology of the Clinton heath-care effort and you see that support dipped below 50% in the fall of '93 after the Harry and Louise ads came out -- then went back up after Clinton's '94 State of the Union address. Then came the irreversible plummet in February. That was in the wake of this:

Late January 1994 - A critically influential -- and intensely controversial -- pair of articles appears on the Wall Street Journal's conservative editorial page and in the liberal New Republic. Written by an obscure staffer of the conservative Manhattan Institute, the fear-mongering articles paint a devastating account of the impact of the Clinton plan. The White House, and other independent experts, say the articles are filled with patent falsehoods and distortions. Notwithstanding the criticism, the articles become highly influential, especially in conservative circles. Newt Gingrich will later characterize them as "the first decisive breakpoint" in support for the Clinton plan.

And, er, also this:

Early February 1994 - Another blow is dealt to the President's credibility as former Arkansas state employee Paula Corbin Jones announces a lawsuit against him for sexual harassment and civil rights violations.

Opponents have already dished out the kind of propaganda that was in those January '94 articles (some of the new stuff is even coming from the author of the '94 New Republic hatchet job, Betsy McCaughey) -- and the CNN poll suggests it's not working. And there doesn't seem to be much hope for a sex scandal this time around. So I guess the opponents have no choice but to bring the (literal) noise.

****

By the way, here's how the CNN story interprets some results of the poll:

The poll indicates that only three in 10 of all Americans think the president's health care proposals will help their families. Another 44 percent feel they won't benefit but that other families will be helped by the president's plans, and one in five say no one will be helped....

The survey suggests that around seven out of 10 Americans think that major structural changes are necessary to reduce health care costs or provide insurance coverage to all Americans.

I'd put that a different way. To me, that says that approximately three-quarters of the people polled think the president's proposals will help either themselve or other people -- and just about as many feel that major changes are needed (i.e., that some people need help).