NBC News Poll: 45% Think "Death Panels" Are Likely to be Created Under Obamacare

Today's NBC News poll:

Let me read you a number of criticisms that town hall protestors have made about the proposed health care plan. For each one, please tell me whether this seems to you to be likely to happen or unlikely to happen.

Likely to Happen/Unlikely to Happen

Will allow the government to make decisions about when to stop providing medical care to the elderly.......45/50

What we see here is the ballgame. Nearly every respondent who indicated that "death panels" are likely to happen under Obamacare will not support any bill. The same thing cannot be said about the 50% who do not believe that such "death panels" will be created, however, they could still oppose Obamacare on other grounds.

More from the poll:

Obama’s overall approval rating in the poll is 51 percent, a two-point drop from last month and a 10-point decline since April.

Yet perhaps more troubling for the White House as it works to pass health care reform this year is that only 41 percent approve of his handling of health care. By comparison, 47 percent disapprove. Moreover, just 36 percent believe that Obama’s
efforts to reform the health system are a good idea, and only 24 percent think they will result in better quality of health care.

Bill McInturff, the GOP pollster who co-conducted the survey, says these numbers should signal a “cautionary light” for the White House. “There is a ‘go slower’ feel to this data.”

McInturff also observes that these numbers — which come after Obama embarked on a three-state swing (New Hampshire, Montana and Colorado) to hold town halls of his own — suggest that the White House’s counteroffensive was, “at best, break-even.”

This data comes from a poll showing a D/R/I split of 41/29/22.