As you’ve heard, Nancy Pelosi has armed Democratic members of Congress with a stark message to use back at home selling constituents on health care reform during August: Opponents are nothing but stooges of the insurance industry.
There’s a reason Dems will stick to this script: An internal poll conducted for House Dem leaders, which I’ve obtained, tested a range of Dem and GOP messages and concluded that the anti-insurance industry line is the most convincing of all messages from either side.
As a result of the poll, the accompanying polling memo tells House Dems to relentlessly describe reform as something that will take power away from the insurance industry.
The survey — taken in 60 battleground districts — found that when people were asked whether they believed reform would shift “power from insurance companies to people,” 62% found it very or somewhat convincing, with 39% finding it “very convincing.” Asked if the “status quo means insurance companies are in charge,” 61% found it convincing.
The poll also lends some comfort to Republicans, testing GOP messages and finding them effective. The most persuasive GOP attacks: That reform will “further bankrupt the country with trillions more in deficit spending,” which 59% found convincing, and that reform means treatment will be “decided by politicians” and “bureaucrats,” which 58% found convincing.
The polling memo gives Dems their script: “Be clear” that reform will transfer “control from insurance companies to the people,” it says, instructing them to “build a narrative about taking power from the insurance companies and giving it to people.”
Ultimately, the poll shows that the leading Dem messages hold a small edge over the GOP ones, though the margin is small, suggesting that the August health care wars will be touch and go. When you hear this language coming from Dems, you’ll know why.
