Leadership and Polls

In the days prior to and following the passage of health care reform, it seemed as if the media was reporting on a new public opinion poll every day. The headlines from these polls ranged from broad public opposition to the bill to broad public support for the bill. For example,
• An early USA Today/Gallup poll showed that 50% of respondents call passage of the bill "a bad thing" while 47% say it was "a good thing."
• A Mason-Dixon poll of Florida voters showed that 34% of voters support health care reform while 54% are against it.
• A nation-wide Gallup poll showed that ~50% of respondents were supportive and pleased with the passage of health care reform while a combined 42% were disappointed or angry with the result.

In trying to parse through these (and others) public opinion polls on health care reform, I’m reminded of a famous quote, who Mark Twain attributed to former British PM Benjamin Disraeli:

"There are three kinds of lies: lies, damned lies, and statistics."

Both sides use public opinion polls to validate and support their position in the health care debate. They have enlisted any poll that comes out that shows that they are doing what people around the country want, and the other side is acting against the public interest. They’re using the polls to either stoke the vitriolic flames or playing the victim.

Polls are not the only contributing factor, and part of the blame lies in the fact that the bill itself is ambiguous on some points and has been distorted by some. But, the larger point here is that what we’re not hearing as often in this debate is that lawmakers voted for (or against) the bill because they, personally, feel it is the right thing to do. Lawmakers are hiding behind public opinion polls rather than following their own convictions.

At the end of the day, we’re never going to be able to know where every leader stands on every issue. As issues change, we can’t expect to have every person’s opinion heard by our leaders. We have placed our trust in our leaders to follow their convictions, whether we share those convictions or not, and we have to trust that they will act with our best interests in mind. If we don’t approve of the job or agree with their convictions, let’s not forget that the only poll that matters is held every two, four, or six years and can result in pink slips.