LOS ANGELES (YBH.ME) – A memo from President Barack Obama’s chief focus group leader, David Binder, was sent to the Democrat National Committee (DNC) today. The memo details results of focus group tests done after President Barack Obama’s Wednesday speech to a Joint Session of Congress. Mr. Binder lays out, what he believes is, the Democrats’ best chance for selling a health bill to skeptical Americans. The analysis is based on a focus group of 49 individuals in Tempe, Arizona during and after Mr. Obama’s speech.
Insurers like Blue Cross will be in the DNC's crosshairs in the health care debate.
Excerpts from the memo:
The highest sustained positive ratings in the speech, nearly 90 on the 0/100 scale, occurred as the President said, “Under this plan, it will be against the law for insurance companies to deny you coverage because of a pre-existing condition. As soon as I sign this bill, it will be against the law for insurance companies to drop your coverage when you get sick or water it down when you need it most. They will no longer be able to place some arbitrary cap on the amount of coverage you can receive in a given year or a lifetime.”
Other language Mr. Binder recommends Democrats continue to use to win over skeptical Americans includes:
“It’s time to give America the same opportunity that (Congress) has given themselves,” and “My guiding principle is, and always has been, that consumers do better when there is choice and competition.”
“I have no interest in putting insurance companies out of business. They provide a legitimate service, and employ a lot of our friends and neighbors. I just want to hold them accountable.”
[After discussion of how a Texas’ woman breast cancer doubled in size while her insurance company canceled her policy. ] “That is heart‐breaking, it is wrong, and no one should be treated that way in the United States of America.”
Democrats have charged that the major insurance companies are the primary cause of sky-rocketing health care costs in the United States. Republicans have countered that the Democrats are attempting to nationalize health care for partisan interests.
No mention in the report of Mr. Obama’s heartfelt invocation of the late Senator Ted Kennedy’s words.
Conclusion? As it turns out, much of the media focus after Mr. Obama’s speech Wednesday was on the outburst of “You lie!” by South Carolina Congressman Joe Wilson. Mr. Wilson was reacting to President Obama’s claim that illegal immigrants would not be covered under any public health care option.
The consultant’s memo did not state whether a phrase about coverage of illegal immigrants was sampled, but the national debate is now at least partially framed by the Congressman’s accusation. Democrats have spent much of the last two days countering Mr. Wilson’s charge.
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John Romano is the publisher and editor of Yes, But However!, a musician, a former political correspondent for BBC Radio London, and a serial web entrepreneur. Follow him on twitter: twitter.com/yesbuthowever or John Romano on Google+John Romano article archive.
