It’s looking as if Rick Santorum’s steady opposition to ObamaCare might well make him the strongest Republican candidate against President Barack Obama in November.
A USA Today/Gallup poll highlights anew what has been clear since Democrats passed ObamaCare in 2010: that it remains unpopular with the American people. It is so unpopular, in fact, that it is damaging Obama’s prospects in swing states.
That’s crucial because the election won’t be decided in states such as strongly conservative Tennessee nor deeply liberal Massachusetts, but in those with more evenly split views.
The survey found that in 12 battleground states, stretching from New Hampshire to New Mexico, 42 percent of registered voters think ObamaCare will make things worse for their families; only 20 percent think it will make things better. Only 16 percent of independents said ObamaCare makes them more likely to vote for Obama; more than twice as many, 35 percent, said it makes them less apt to back Obama.
“Opposition to the law is eroding Obama’s support among the middle-of-the-road voters both nominees will court …,” USA Today reported. And former Pennsylvania Sen. Santorum is best poised among the Republican hopefuls to attract those votes.