Why Are the Polls Going Against Hillary?
Things are tightening up leading to Super Tuesday in the Democratic primaries. There’s several story lines we can follow, too. California, healthcare, Ann Coulter. Man, those are three disparate issues, aren’t they?
The polls are going against Hillary. She’s held a national lead in the polls but today those same national polls are showing a statistical dead heat with Barack Obama. Wow! That’s a huge gain for Obama in a very short time. In California the same story is being told, a huge Clinton lead melting into a statistical dead heat. Wow! The question here is whether this is an Obama surge or a result of policy and endorsements for Hillary.
There’s no question that Barack Obama has a good bit of the big Mo. Obama won in South Carolina, and Obama has those big endorsements from the Kennedys. But I gotta wonder if Hillary’s actions and endorsements are moving the electorate both across the country and in California.
The first big thing is that the only contentious issue in the last Democratic debate is starting to play out. On healthcare Barack Obama suggested that Hillary was going to have to punish people if they did not sign on to her plan. Today it looks like she’s planning to garnish wages in order to get people to comply. I’m willing to say this is a very difficult issue that’s going to have some real sacrifice on the part of some people in this country, but Hillary advocating the garnishing of wages will not help her at all. Here it is from the AP wire:
Democrat Hillary Rodham Clinton said Sunday she might be willing to garnish the wages of workers who refuse to buy health insurance to achieve coverage for all Americans.
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The New York senator has criticized presidential rival Barack Obama for pushing a health plan that would not require universal coverage. Clinton has not always specified the enforcement measures she would embrace, but when pressed on ABC’s “This Week,” she said: “I think there are a number of mechanisms” that are possible, including “going after people’s wages, automatic enrollment.”
Clinton said such measures would apply only to workers who can afford health coverage but refuse to buy it, which puts undue pressure on hospitals and emergency rooms.
Again, it isn’t that her plan doesn’t have merit, but Hillary Clinton needs to be honest here and note that it will take some sacrifices. Leaks like this, without that signal, are not doing her any good. But that’s not the only thing that’s hampering her. It looks like the rabid folks on the other side are eager for her candidacy, and when the banshee of the right backs you, that means votes for Obama. Ann Coulter’s backing of Hillary, as we mentioned a couple days ago, whether we can trust the emmissary of evil or not, is not doing good things for Hillary getting votes.
Last time I looked, I, as a wage earner, was entirely the judge of how and where to spend my money. Since I obviously can’t buy things I can’t afford, the notion of being forced to buy something that in SOMEONE ELSE’S judgement, I can afford, is repulsive.
But then, having Hillbillary and Shillary in the WH is repulsive too.
Garnishment of wages is INVOLUNTARY and outrageous. When one considers that such FORCED payment of premiums to still as yet ungregulated health insurers is something on Billary’s agenda, it makes her candidacy seem even more revolting than it has been already.
SHILLARY is no liberal and this putative plan should be consigned to the garbage heap before it gets any further developed.
It is all about image making and maximum exposure that brings in the easy money. Pollsters are there for this image making and GREED. They are their to create excitement to voters. This attracts attention which in turn brings in dollars. All media, pollsters & endorssing politicians are cowards as they are there in print/blogs to make an image impression. In any democracy a large majority of voters are idiots who depend on these pundits and pollsters. The numbers of self proclaimed pundits, pollsters are indication of number of idiots among voters.
All polls are crap what happens at the end of polling day is what counts?
It is unfortunate that pollsters are their to brainwash the voters who are idiots.
See your nemesis, TPM for latest polls showing something entirely different.
Hillary’s plan is very similar to Edwards’, and I like it. At least it’s a move to get EVERYONE covered.
twit, TPM is not a “nemisis” of All Spin Zone. I really admire the work that Josh Marshall has done to make his empire run, and link to interesting stuff over there all the time. An enterprise like TPM has the resources to do what I’d love to be doing here - and Josh was a “starving artist” honing his craft and eating Ramen noodles in order to make his empire a reality. He was one of the fortunate few to ride the blog wave just as it started rising, and he’s been riding in the barrel of the wave ever since. Rare air, indeed, and I don’t begrudge his expertise, reach, or resources for one moment.
The ABC interview is amazing. Hillary will decide for me what I can afford - then she’ll go after my wages. Naturally this won’t be expected of illegal immigrants with jobs that pay them enough cash to send home. Only people who are dumb enough to be legal US citizens and have W-2 jobs will pay for everybody.
News from around the world:
FEMALE bomber kills 12 in Colombo train attack
Burka Bombers: Spontaneously Exploding Iraqi Women
And Benazir Bhutto’s diary has been in the blog news lately.
A conspiracy theorist might wonder if the media is trying to get the public to equate women with terrorism, thereby in a very subtle way also trying to undercut Hillary’s campaign.
Good evening, Mr. Reynolds:
Wow, that post seems to have touched a nerve! I’m on my last few months of COBRA, as I write this. I give my former employer, Verizon, $416.15 a month, which they claim is their actual cost + 2% to insure me. Fortunately I had some very expensive surgery in June of last year so I still have the better end of that deal. Unfortunately, the situation will change on 7/01/08 when my cost, for the same coverage, will, in all likelikhood, triple.
Not having some form of national health insurance is costing the taxpayers who are insured whether they are aware of it or not. The health insurance industry and the HMO’s simply pass along their expenses to the ratepayers. I would be perfectly happy to pay $100 a week for good health care, but then I’m used to it.
Keep in mind, democommie, I’m not saying national health insurance is a bad idea, not by a long shot. I was merely commenting on the notion of garnishing wages and how that’s not going to fly politically.
I’m far more an advocate of a single-payer government run system. that provides a base level of care, buyt where people may opt to pay for wider coverage. That base level of care would have rewards for people who use it for preventative medicine — such use would make their additional coverage’s rates go down.
Regardless, this is a very difficult issue. I think everyone can understand that our medical care system is badly broken. All I ask is whether it is a good political idea to tell people they are going to have their wages garnished.
Keep in mind, democommie, I’m not saying national health insurance is a bad idea, not by a long shot. I was merely commenting on the notion of garnishing wages and how that’s not going to fly politically.
I have to agree with what Duncan Black posted over at Eschaton this morning. Why would “garnishing of wages” be a better thing politically than “raising taxes”? Anyone who thinks that this whole “mandate that you buy insurance” thing is going to fly politically is living in a dream world full of ponies and rainbows.
The only “mandate” that is going to work is to enroll anyone who can’t afford insurance automatically and pay for it via taxes. A better “mandate” would just be to set a minimum level of coverage for every American whether they have insurance or not and provide it.
All of this “force you to buy insurance” crap is a sop to the insurance industry to make sure they don’t get too frightened. Gather up those execs, fly them over to France and Germany and show them that minimum state-provided converage can work with private supplemental insurance for the benefit of everyone - including those insurance companies.
Ah, Nony. duncan mentioned that the other night. I will agree. Politically, garnishing of wages is about equal to raising taxes. I don’t think either is a politically good thing to say, unless one puts together a whole campaign that incorporates a great number of benefits to all Americans that the garnishing and higher taxes benefits.
Go check out my post about Anne Dicker. Duncan was at that fundraiser at my house. We’re fairly much on the same page. We talk a lot, even then, and while we might disagree on occasion, it is more about style than substance usually.
I don’t want health insurance. Why would I be forced to buy into it if I don’t want it or will not use it? It is not the governments business whether or not I have insurance. I wonder if I will be thrown in jail by Hillary? This whole thing stinks. The whole healthcare issue is to help out the drug industry. The government does not really care if we are healthy if they did they would not approve propelene glycol and other gasoline deratives in food plus all of the other cancer causing additives. They would not allow mercury to be put into our mouthes if they were worried about our health. And we are worried about what the Chinese do to us? Let us worry about our corrupt sytem here. Hillary will just make it worse. I want her out of my business.
If you don’t wasnt it, don’t vote for Hillary., She’ll garnish your wages.
This entire day has been awful. The political supposed savvy persons are attacking Hillary, while Obama skates by with the word Change. I for one don’t give a damn whether you voted or didn’t vote for the war, it’s already happened. My concern is how to continue to pay the rising costs of living while the housing and job market is being destroyed and how to practically end this war without making promises that cannot be kept. And as for those telling us about the wonderful Obama, well give me a seasoned person in politics and not someone who bases everything on a program in Chicago, there are more states and countries to concern us.