Poll: Nearly half in Virginia oppose Obama’s plan for health-care reform

Nearly half of Virginia voters oppose President Barack Obama’s health-care initiative, according to a Richmond Times-Dispatch poll, which also shows his popularity here fading.

Forty-nine percent are against the Obama program, while 39 percent favor it and 12 percent are undecided.

The poll, conducted for The Times-Dispatch last Tuesday to Thursday by Mason-Dixon Polling and Research, indicates eight in 10 voters fear that a defining feature of the Obama proposal—a public option for health insurance—will drive up their taxes.

Paired with findings that show Republicans ahead for the three statewide offices, the results reflect a political landscape that has quickly tilted to the GOP after a lengthy Democratic ascendancy in Virginia.

And in a possible sign of political repercussions for the state’s Democratic U.S. senators, 49 percent say they would disapprove of Jim Webb and Mark R. Warner backing the Obama health-care package.

Webb has expressed some support for a government-supplied alternative to private insurance. Warner has yet to take a position but has urged a solution on health care that does not increase the deficit.

Obama, the first Democrat to carry the state for president since 1964, is now viewed favorably by 44 percent of Virginia voters. That’s down from 49 percent last November. Obama’s unfavorable rating remains 41 percent.

The Times-Dispatch Poll is based on phone interviews with 625 registered voters who say are likely to cast ballots Nov. 3. Results could vary 4 percentage points in either direction.

The poll was conducted in the run-up to this week’s vote by the Senate Finance Committee on a health-care overhaul that does not include a public option. Neither Virginian is a member of the panel, whose vote is the next major obstacle for the Obama effort.

A closer look at the poll’s findings:

  * 57 percent oppose a public-option, government-run insurance program as part of health-care reform, while 30 favor it, and 13 percent are undecided.

  * 48 percent oppose requiring all Americans to have health insurance, while 39 percent believe coverage should be mandatory. Thirteen percent are undecided.

  * 81 percent say health-care reform will lead to higher taxes to cover its estimated 10-year, $1 trillion cost. Seven percent say the initiative will not push up taxes, and 12 percent are not sure.

  * 52 percent believe health-care reform will result in the rationing of health care, while 29 percent think otherwise. Nineteen percent are not sure.

51 percent say health-care reform will force major cuts in Medicare, a federal program that provides health and medical service for seniors. Thirty-one percent say it will not cause reductions in Medicare, and 18 percent don’t know.