March 24, 2010 07:02 PM UTC

GOP "Repeal" Efforts Already Sputtering?

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• by: Colorado Pols

We wrote yesterday that Republicans should be careful about going full-steam ahead in attacking health care reform:

Now that the bill is done — now that Republicans can’t excite people about what might be in a reform bill, but instead can only talk about what is in the bill — the task of using health care reform as a way to victory in November is decidedly different. Voters may find pieces of the legislation that they are unhappy with, but by and large most of them aren’t going to dislike the idea, for example, of ending restrictions on pre-existing conditions.

As it turns out, Republicans are already slowing down on their cries to repeal the legislation. As Ezra Klein writes in a blog for The Washington Post:

So in about 12 hours, the GOP’s position has gone from “repeal this socialist monstrosity that will destroy our final freedoms” to “there are some things we don’t like about this legislation and would like to repeal, and there are some things we support and would like to keep.”

“We always said there are things that we can all agree on in the bill,” said Rep. Brett Guthrie.

At this rate, they’ll be running on expanding the bill come November.

Here in Colorado, Republican Senate candidates Jane Norton, Tom Wiens and Ken Buck have all pledged to repeal the legislation if elected, joining many other Republican candidates for Congress around the state. None of them are well-served by national Republicans backing off now, though perhaps they should have treaded more carefully to begin with.

UPDATE: Might a new Gallup poll have something to do with this?

Nearly half of Americans give a thumbs-up to Congress’ passage of a healthcare reform bill last weekend, with 49% calling it “a good thing.” Republicans and Democrats have polar opposite reactions, with independents evenly split.

The findings, from a March 22 USA Today/Gallup poll conducted one day after the bill received a majority of votes in the U.S. House of Representatives, represent immediate reactions to the vote.

Americans’ emotional responses to the bill’s passage are more positive than negative — with 50% enthusiastic or pleased versus 42% angry or disappointed — and are similar to their general reactions…

Passage of healthcare reform was a clear political victory for President Obama and his allies in Congress. While it also pleases most of his Democratic base nationwide, it is met with greater ambivalence among independents and with considerable antipathy among Republicans. Whether these groups’ views on the issue harden or soften in the coming months could be crucial to how healthcare reform factors into this year’s midterm elections. Given that initial public reaction to Sunday’s vote is more positive than recent public opinion about passing a healthcare reform bill, it appears some softening has already occurred.