Markos Can't Read His Own Poll, Says Dennis...

Quoth Markos Moulitsas: "Baucus doesn't represent his state, say Montanans."

Pretty dramatic, eh? How about this pronouncement, complete with obligatory progressive outrage:

While Baucus continues conspiring with Republicans to delay and kill effective health care reform, his antics aren't doing him any favors back home. And despite the onslaught of pure bullshit slung by opponents of effective reform (death panels! government takeover! Canada!), a plurality of all Montana residents (and independents as well) still support a public option.

To back this sort of tough talkin' up, Markos products his latest polling data. There's only one problem...

The data doesn't back him up.

Note that on the two key questions asked, no clear answer emerges:

1) Do you approve or disapprove of Senator Max Baucus' actions on health care?

                    Approve  Disapprove  Not sure

All Voters          42             44              14

2) Do you favor or oppose creating a new public health insurance plan that anyone can purchase?

                     Favor    Oppose    Not sure

All Voters         47          43            10

With a margin of error of 4%, which is exactly what the poll has, Markos' contention bites the dust. And that's even before noting that you have double-digit figures for "undecided" on both questions.

Bottom line? Montanans - taken as a whole - aren't sure about much with regards to Obamacare. In that respect Max Baucus certainly is representative of Montanans.

Comments

[markg8]

From the poll:

Do you approve or disapprove of Senator Max Baucus' actions on health care?

Approve Disapprove Not sure

All 42 44 14
Dem 34 55 11
Rep 49 38 13
Ind 41 42 17

Do you favor or oppose creating a new public health insurance plan that anyone can purchase?

Favor Oppose Not sure

All 47 43 10
Dem 78 15 7
Rep 23 66 11
Ind 48 41 11

You want "bipartisan"? A quarter of Republicans want a public option.

If Max Baucus opposed a public health insurance option would that make you more or less likely to vote for him or would it have no real effect on your vote?

More Less No Effect

All 17 22 61
Dem 12 36 52
Rep 23 8 69
Ind 15 27 58

If Max Baucus joined Republican Senators in filibustering and killing a final health care bill because it had a public health insurance option would that make you more or less likely to vote for him or would it have no real effect on your vote?

More Less No Effect

All 15 27 58
Dem 8 44 48
Rep 25 7 68
Ind 10 36 54

Max Baucus won't do himself any favors politically if he goes against the wishes of 78% of Dems and 48% of indies in his state and votes against a public option. They're the people who put him in office.

And a public option that "anyone can purchase" is way beyond what's in the most liberal bill HR 3200. The CBO says under HR 3200 only 11 to 13 million Americans (4%) will wind up in the public option by 2019. If they'd worded that question differently, less liberally, chances are it would have gotten even higher support.

[Dennis the Peasant]

Mark, you're putting lipstick on a pig. Markos' contention doesn't fly, and Max Baucus knows it.

[elliottg]

Surprise, you are as ignorant of statistics and interpreting polls as you are of everything else.

[markg8]

Max Baucus is going to pass a bill out of his committee with only Democratic votes or he's not going to pass one at all Dennis.

Republicans have made that perfectly clear. They are marginalizing themselves. There's no reason to negotiate with people who have no interest in negotiation, lie repeatedly about the proposals and think bringing guns to townhalls is a legitimate form of political expression instead an attempt at thuggish intimidation.

You guys have lost your fucking minds.

[Dennis the Peasant]

First of all, I'm not one of "you guys".

Second, the fight here isn't between Republicans and Democrats: It is between liberal, pro-public option Democrats and moderate, anti-public option Democrats. Republicans are of interest to moderate Democrats only to the extent that their votes could potentially provide cover for moderate Democrats at election time in 2010.

Republicans are simply sitting back and waiting for Democrats to start their in-house dustup over the public option issue. Tactically, doing so makes perfect sense.

The fact that you're getting hysterical tells me you understand perfectly well just how much trouble your party is in.

[Dennis the Peasant]

elliott-

What part of "margin of error" don't you understand?

[markg8]

First of all, I'm not one of "you guys".

Hahahahaha! You've written all these posts excoriating Obama and Democrats, don't support public option or even co-ops which is exactly the position of your "former" party, make jokes about guns but you're not one of those guys. You're not kidding anyone Dennis.

Republicans are simply sitting back and waiting for Democrats to start their in-house dustup over public choice.

Hahahahaha! Doesn't even deserve more of a response than that.

[JeffS]

Max Baucus is going to pass a bill out of his committee with only Democratic votes or he's not going to pass one at all Dennis.

That was clear several days ago. Your point?

Republicans have made that perfectly clear.

No, voters have made that clear, in town halls and demonstrations across the country. And when Porkulus supporting RINO Senator Snow accuses the Dhimmicrats of railroading health care reform, y'all got a problem. As some Blue Dogs < a href="http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0809/26340.html">are finally admitting, even if belatedly.

And especially since the majorities in Congress belong to the Dhimmicrats, not to the Republicans.

They are marginalizing themselves.

Who is this "they" of whom you speak? Thus far, Obama is outperforming Clinton AND Carter. That takes real talent.

There's no reason to negotiate with people who have no interest in negotiation, lie repeatedly about the proposals and think bringing guns to townhalls is a legitimate form of political expression instead an attempt at thuggish intimidation.

You got one point right there -- people are bringing firearms to town halls. Legally. Note that there have been NO arrests on this issue. But it's interesting to see that much of the lying on this issue is against the folks bringing firearms to peaceful protests.

Of course, not all of the protests have been peaceful. So you have a point there. Just not the one you wanted to make, especially in regards to "thuggish intimidation" and "lies".

As for "no interest in negotiation", I refer you back to the "railroad" link above.

You guys have lost your fucking minds.

Nope. But you and your own are sounding increasingly desperate. Might it be that you have lost control of the message? Hmmmmmm......

And now that I've exercised my First Amendment rights (the soapbox coming courtesy of Dennis), I'm off to the range to practice the exercise of my Second Amendment rights.

[Dennis the Peasant]

Me...

Pro-choice.
For immediate withdrawal from Iraq.
For immediate withdrawal from Afghanistan.
Pro-gay marriage.
For the immediate repeal of DADT.

Not exactly the positions that would get me welcomed into the Republican fold.

Of course, I could just say I'm for them and then forget all about it, but that would simply get me an invitation to join the Democratic Party.

[Dennis the Peasant]

And it's not real surprising that independence of thought is something you'd have some trouble grasping on a conceptual level.

[markg8]

Pro-choice.
For immediate withdrawal from Iraq.
For immediate withdrawal from Afghanistan.
Pro-gay marriage.
For the immediate repeal of DADT.

Thanks for clearing that up Dennis. It's the first time you've stated plainly your position on the war in Afghanistan. So you only agree with your former party on most of the issues of the day like health care reform, cap and trade and the stimulus bill which in case you haven't noticed have been the overriding priorities of the Obama Administration.

Your independence of thought seems to stretch only as far as it's in opposition to Obama. But I'm sure when DADT is repealed by congress and Obama signs the bill you'll be writing laudatory prose about it. Yeah sure.

[markg8]

And besides Dennis, you're not in congress, like it or not you're represented by Voinovich, Brown and that empty suit of a congressman. Voinovich doesn't care about anything or anybody as long as he has his Social Security, Medicare and government pension to fall back on next year, Brown will vote the way the people who elected him want him to and I doubt anybody cares what what's-his-name thinks. John Boehner probably doesn't even have his phone number.

[PeterUK]

Why are you so anxious the get DADT repealed Mark? It isn't as if you were in the military.

[markg8]

I believe in equality and it's just fucking stupid to fire people you've spent millions training or who have valuable skills we need because of their sexual orientation Peter.

Why are you so anxious to preserve it?