Independent Women’s Voice Poll: Massachusetts Voters Undo Conventional Wisdom
by Independent Women's VoiceThe Massachusetts Special Election last week upended “conventional wisdom” about “who can/might/should/ or will win” and how traditional voting blocs may cast their ballots in upcoming elections. This is not simply a look at “what happened,” but also what it means for the legislative agenda in Washington. In this poll, actual voters provide a roadmap for reform as Washington continues to debate how best to fix the economy, jump-start entrepreneurship, and shore up national security.
Some highlights from the poll:
* Independent Women Voters: This demographic was key to the electoral outcome. They bucked their gender, with 67% of them supporting Scott Brown. Majorities say that Congress should stop the current levels of spending and call for enacting provisions that make it more affordable for people to buy health insurance on their own, instead of through their jobs, in the same way people buy homeowners’ and life insurance (56%). Two-thirds of Indie women would allow small businesses to form groups to buy healthcare coverage at lower rates, and 45% want Congress to “start over” on healthcare reform; just 2% say continue with the reform “as is.”
* Those who had frequently voted for Ted Kennedy in the past (63% of the sample) had some surprising opinions: 79% of them said providing tax cuts to small businesses for job creation will speed up the nation’s economic recovery; 47% say Congress should open healthcare negotiations for the public to observe.
* Healthcare Plays the Heaviest Hand: Nearly two-in-five (38%) actual voters said they had healthcare on the brain when deciding between candidates; of those, 57% said in a later question that they support current efforts being undertaken in Washington. Other issues of importance were the economy (16%), jobs and unemployment (13%), government spending (7%), and taxes (3%), meaning that fiscal issues summed statistically-equal to healthcare (39%). Among the 29% of respondents who said that healthcare was their top concern, the majority (51%) said it was because they oppose the current legislation being considered in Washington, D.C., 46% because they support it.
*National Security: Because the Christmas day near-miss terrorist attack happened during the campaign, the issue of national security presented itself. During a rally, then-candidate Scott Brown said, “In dealing with terrorists, our tax dollars should pay for weapons to stop them, not lawyers to defend them.” Sixty-four percent of voters indicated that hearing Scott Brown say this was “very” (42%) or “somewhat” (22%) important when deciding which candidate to support. Seventy percent of voters who said the statement had importance cast ballots for Brown.
* National Consequences: Whereas 72% of Brown voters said they cast votes “mostly for” him and 60% of Coakley voters said theirs were also “mostly for” her, voters had not forgotten the consequences of their voting decisions. Consider that 80% of Brown voters said that their “all” or “some” of their votes were “to oppose President Obama’s agenda in Washington” and, similarly, 82% of Coakley supporters said that their “all” or “some” of their support was “to advance President Obama’s agenda in Washington.”
* When asked which candidates they supported in the past – Democrats or Republicans – for United States Senate and then asked to anticipate how they will vote in the future, there was a seven-point difference between the percentage of voters saying they have always or mostly voted for Democrats and the percentage saying they will do so in the future
IWV — Massachusetts Post-Election Survey TOPLINE DATA to CLIENT 1.26.10 –
The poll, conducted for IWV by Women Trend, a division of the polling company™ inc. surveyed 411 Massachusetts voters from January 23rd-24th, 2010.
IWV — Massachusetts Post-Election Survey Release to CLIENT 1.26.10 –
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47 Comments
The shadow NY Times copywriter just called me with their rejected headline for tomorrow's paper.
"Independent Massachusetts Women Flip the Bird to NOW and Planned Parenthood"
How fitting it is Mass. who sinks the BHO healthcare plan. Someone was thinking ahead when they built harbors.
I sure would like to see a poll study on all those folks who voted FOR Coakley.
….and somehow eliminate the brain dead voter percentages.
What did the color of his skin have to do with his message??? Hell he could have been purple and won souly on his message.. Conservatives judge by charactor, Dems judge by color of skin !!!
Showing that people are slowly turning the tide against the politican parties and starting to vote on principles. Yes!
How about just eliminate the dead voter percentages? Oh wait, while the dead vote you can't survey them.
vote on principles?
They'd voted for their personal wallets, principle had little influence. When life was prosperous last decade it was easy for 'independent' voters to be smug fence sitters but all has changed.
That said; I am delighted to see INDEPENDENT women finally leave the Democrat plantation after decades of rema8ng obedient.
Good on ya Sweeties!
On principles? When Mr. Brown voted for universal health care, or now as he tries to defeat universal health care?
Mr. Brown, as a state senator, voted in favor of the Massachusetts universal health care law in 2006, when the state became the first in the nation to pass a far-reaching overhaul guaranteeing coverage for nearly every state resident and requiring everyone in Massachusetts to obtain insurance.
Mr. Brown, in campaigning against the health care legislation emerging in Washington, has sought to portray it as fundamentally different from the Massachusetts plan. But Massachusetts was actually an important model for what Congress has developed, arguably the model for what Congress envisions
This will be a good year – despite the economy.
http://RightWingStuff.com
Women on the Democrat Plantation aside; an earthquake in Mass would have occurred if the Sanctity of Lifers actually voted for a pro-life Republican for a change.
Perhaps several decades from now Sanctity of Lifers will change voting habits; they did when they saw how the Democrat's Plantation threatened to close the Sanctity of Lifers divine hospitals
It doesn't matter to me why they voted the way they did, as long as
they did the "right" thing!!…
Tom Friedman on Imus In The Morning, advises his Golfing Buddy – President Obama, to ignore the Tea Party Movement, and the Populism spreading across the country. Tom Friedman "Confused with a chance of Goulash"
http://youhavetobethistalltogoonthisride.blogspot...
Sorry hockeynation, but what we have in MA is NOTHING like what the Obamabots are tring to do in DC with this "reform/Union sellout". MA did not takeover healthcare from the insurance companies. Plus, these different ideas SHOULD be tried at State levels to see what works and what doesn't, BEFORE being shoved down the throat of actual working citizens. Stop reading the NYT if you want factual information.
The Toxic Fish:
They are trying to devide us. Forget the whole McCain "RINO" lefty tactic. Read.
http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0110/31991.h...
Very enlightening. It seems as though EVERYONE is getting sick and tired of "politics as usual"…………..Hanzo
And now, after Massachussetts had been struggling under that same health care system having the highest insurance premiums and some of the longest wait times in the country, it should be pretty evident to everyone that the idea doesn't work. This is what federalism is: Each state is free to run its own affairs. If one state does something that is super successful, the others will likely pick it up. If one state does something that turns out bad, other states can see to steer clear of it and the people living in that state can elect to move out. The strength of Federalism is that a mistake on the level of the state damages far less people than a mistake on the level of the Fed.
Mass voters (and Scott Brown) were apparently smart enough to admit that they're plan is a disaster and that implementing it on a national level would screw over everyone, not just themselves.
I can forgive someone if they try something new and discover that it won't work later so long as they learn their lesson. Brown seems to have learned that lesson.
This dovetails nicely with Gibbs tortured logic in explaining the Massachusetts rebellion on Chris Wallace’s Sunday show, don’t you think? He stated to paraphrase, “A vote for Brown was against “W” and for Barry, and the main reason is that they are moving to slow in Washington.” Hmmm…
While BHO/msm sycophants/libs try to divide/polarize the American people, employing the tactics laid out in 'Alinskys Rules for Radicls'(isolate,ridicule,marginalise) and engaging in bald face class warfare and envy, Massachusetts has shown us that patriotic citizens can coalesce and fight back against bloated government bureaucracy and government mandated tyranny…………………Hanzo
Maybe, but reigning in the size of government has the potential to lead to what the pro-lifers ultimately want – respect for life, and the right to life, in the womb. And frankly, no one will get anywhere if government spends us into bankruptcy.
Let's drop the political correctness BS and talk honestly to each other. I am registered independent – if I want my Senator to be a man – I am not ashamed to say so
While BHO/msm sycophants/libs try to divide/polarize the American people, employing the tactics laid out in 'Alinskys Rules for Radicals'(isolate,ridicule.marginalise) and engaging in bald face class warfare and envy, Massachusetts has shown us that patriotic citizens can coalesce and fight back against bloated government bureaucracy and government mandated tyranny…………………Hanzo
Way to go for Independent women! As an independent woman, I approve of that message.
While BHO/msm sycophants/libs try to divide the American people, employing the tactics laid out for them in 'Alinskys Rules for Radicals'(isolate,ridicule,marginalise) and engaging in bald face class warfare and envy, Massachusetts has shown us that patriotic citizens can coalesce and fight back against bloated government bureaucracy and government mandated tyranny…………………Hanzo
That's "right" !!
………………..Hanzo
This is in line with what I thought even before the election took place. Women vote for men, not women! That's why I know that Palin can not win in a presidency race! Maybe women know something that we men don't, who knows?
And as an Independent Conservative man, I also approve of that message
……………………..Hanzo
I'm not being PC at all, and yes you can vote for a man if you want but let me ask this, If Brown's message was Coakley's and Coakleys message was Brown's would you have still voted for the Man ???
READ THIS! What we are seeing is a RETURN to sanity – in 2004 Democrats couldn't win an election for dog catcher, and it looked like the party was dead. Then came the mainstream media which lambasted the heck out of Bush – day in day out antiBush mania, totally unanswered by Bush or Rove – Katrina, social security, Valerie Plame, that creep who camped out near Bush's houses (can't even recall her name) – all of it made up nonsense, but the pounding day after day after day, until even OBAMA looked good – and heck, all we had was a loser like McCain. We should have been wiser – and maybe some good wll have come of OBAMA being elected – we got united. But the real devil is the mainstream media -without it OBAMA is less than a third party candidate, and the Democrats would never win another election. Think about that next time you want to see something put out by Hollywood or watch an episode of "Heroes." AVOID IT ALL – its poison anyway! And pass this message of avoidance to others – I can't do this alone!
Right – but the way to fight back is to avoid the mainstream media – avoid exposure, they lose ratings, hopefully wither away and die. But it has to be consistent – Hollywood, traditional networks, Vanity Fair all of it – it's poison anyway, and pass the message on as well….
Am I the only one who wants to know what became of the woman outside a polling place with a handful of absentee ballots who declaring her willingness to complete the ballot? Is she already under the AGs' carpet?
You tell it like it is!!!
Outstanding comment for sure!
Because as it turned out, Brown's majority fell outside the margin of ACORN.
No. Democrat's message is crap, but not all the voters care to find out what's behind the candidates.
Women make up a large portion of the small business start-up business environment. There are programs targeted for minority owners. They are the ones largely affected by the policies of this Admininstration.
The rise of the white male! Hooray! Governor Perry is leading in Texas too. As a woman I crave the males in America to be saved. Massachusetts started it. Tired of those skinny dry gals like Coakley that are raising dogs instead of children so they can make themselves a carrier. Good for them, but don't push them as a shining example to me.
Mass does have the mandate, and the tax structure is similar. The effect has been that Mass now has the most expensive private insurance premiums in the nation; after all, if people *have* to buy your product, what incentive is there to hold the costs down? Not only that but people in Mass now have an average wait time to see the doctor of roughly one and half to two months.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AqD-nMpsYAY
Besides, the Massachusetts plan did not give a free pass to the folks in Nebraska or Louisiana and 40$ an hour earning union worker at the expense of the rest of us.
Excellent, well said, aharris……………….Hanzo
In the short term, I'd agree. As we move forward, it's going to become a pivotal issue. Ideologies will clash and there will be little, if any, room for compromise. The devil will not accept part of your soul as payment.
Yes, I would agree that allowing each state to craft their own legislation would be the best, but the Fed should provide the parameters.
Here are the results of a poll done by the, Harvard School of Public Health.
After the implementation of a health care reform law aimed at providing health coverage for nearly all Massachusetts residents, public support for the law remains high. According to a new poll by the Harvard School of Public Health and the Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts Foundation, over two-thirds (69%) of Massachusetts residents support the law. Just over one in five (22%) oppose the law and approximately one in ten (9%) say they do not know enough about it to give an opinion. Since the law's passage in 2006, public support has increased slightly (69% in 2008 compared to 67% in 2007 and 61% in 2006).
Other signs of public support for the law include the following:
77% support providing subsidized coverage
58% support requiring individuals to have insurance
71% say the law has been successful at reducing the number of uninsured
Of 2135 practicing Massachusetts physicians who responded to the poll, 70% said they support the Massachusetts Health Care Reform Law, whereas 13% oppose it.
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