Obama pollster: Press has it wrong on Obamacare polls
In a meeting with reporters, Obama pollster Joel Benenson also had lots to say about income inequality, immigration reform, and Democratic rising star Wendy Davis.
Washington
Joel Benenson, President Obama鈥檚 pollster, has some bones to pick with the press.
Start with the issue of income inequality, which Mr. Obama has called 鈥渢he defining challenge of our time.鈥� But to Mr. Benenson, the press is making too much of this one theme.
鈥淭he attention on inequality is a bit overhyped,鈥� said Benenson, speaking with reporters at a breakfast Wednesday hosted by the centrist Democratic think tank Third Way.
Don鈥檛 get him wrong, he does think inequality is 鈥渁 real issue in America.鈥� As working people saw their wages and salaries stagnating, they saw people at the top making 鈥渆normous gains.鈥� But he doesn鈥檛 think Americans resent people at the top who have done well 鈥� as long as the playing field is level.听 After all, many Americans aspire to reach the top themselves.听
But when Americans 鈥渂elieve people are playing by a different set of rules than they are, when they believe they can amass their wealth by gaming the system,鈥� he says, such as companies that park billions in profits overseas to avoid paying American taxes, 鈥渢hat鈥檚 what really ticks them off.鈥�
So maybe the better term is 鈥渇airness鈥�? Benenson does not disagree: 鈥淥ne of the dynamic things about the American economy is that it鈥檚 based on fairness.鈥� It鈥檚 why people immigrate to this country, he says.
Benenson's next bone is over reporting on public opinion toward Obamacare.听
鈥淭he polls that continue to ask, 鈥楧o you support or oppose Obamacare?鈥� are shallow and superficial,鈥� he says. 鈥淚f you don鈥檛 ask the followup question of people who say they鈥檙e unfavorable towards it or oppose it, you鈥檙e missing the point, because about a quarter of the people who say they are unfavorable or oppose it say it doesn鈥檛 go far enough.鈥�
Benenson says there鈥檚 been a consistent majority who either support the new health-care law on its face or say they want it to go further.听
鈥淭hat鈥檚 not opposition,鈥� he says. 鈥淧eople do not want to relitigate this. Do they think it鈥檚 perfect right now in every one of its phases? No, obviously not. But they believe that we can do with this what we did with Social Security and Medicare, which is make changes and fix it along the way.鈥�
Benenson鈥檚 third source of frustration comes from the Texas governor鈥檚 race, where he has just become the pollster for Wendy Davis 鈥� Democrats鈥� newest political darling, as she runs an uphill race in a red state. Recent articles about her biography, asserting that she had misstated key elements, are unfair, Benenson says.
鈥淭he repetition of mistakes and sloppiness in the stories 鈥� is outrageous,鈥� says Benenson, himself a former reporter for the New York Daily News.
鈥淪he never lost custody of her children,鈥� he says. 鈥淭hat that got repeated all over the country is ridiculous.鈥�
Ditto the stories about how she financed her Harvard Law School education, which Ms. Davis鈥檚 then-husband helped to fund. On Tuesday, Davis addressed the issue of her biography in a speech, but it鈥檚 not clear if any damage was done to her candidacy. Benenson says he just joined the campaign and hasn鈥檛 done a poll yet.
Benenson was equally vocal on other issues:
Immigration.听 鈥淎ny immigration bill that the Republicans advocate that stops short of a path to citizenship is going to damage them permanently with Hispanic voters,鈥� he says.
Benenson rejects the idea that granting undocumented immigrants a form of legal status that allows them to work, but not full citizenship, with the right to vote, will satisfy most Latinos.
鈥淚鈥檝e done a fair amount of polling on this over the years,鈥� he says. 鈥淚 do not believe the American people are going to be satisfied with that, and I don鈥檛 believe that a majority of Latinos at the end of the day, when that gets hashed out, are going to be satisfied with that based on how I鈥檝e looked on that issue and polled it.鈥�
In the 2012 presidential election, Obama won 71 percent of the Latino vote to GOP nominee Mitt Romney鈥檚 27 percent. The Republicans must dramatically improve their performance among Latinos to retake the White House in 2016, political analysts say.
Economy. Benenson was asked why more Americans don鈥檛 see the economy as in recovery. 听His response: 鈥淭hey don鈥檛 want to take the risk of being overly optimistic at any moment in time until they feel we鈥檙e completely out of the woods.鈥�
Keystone XL. This oil-sands pipeline project, slated to run from Alberta, Canada, to the Gulf of Mexico, is a lightning rod for environmentalists.听A decision is expected from the Obama administration on whether to proceed in the next few months.
鈥淜eystone is not an issue that captivates most Americans right now,鈥� says Benenson.
He hasn鈥檛 polled on Keystone recently, but on energy policy in general, he says Americans support Obama鈥檚 鈥渁ll of the above鈥� strategy, from fossil fuels to greener sources.
鈥淲hen he makes his decision on Keystone 鈥� whatever that decision is, and I鈥檓 not involved in that at all 鈥� I think the key is going to be, can he make the argument for why it鈥檚 the right thing to do at that moment in time,鈥� Benenson says.
鈥淭hat鈥檚 what will determine whether or not it鈥檚 greeted favorably or unfavorably by either people in his base or elsewhere,鈥� Benenson says.听 鈥淚鈥檓 not sure that he鈥檒l factor that into his decision one bit.鈥�