As a cadre of thirteen male Republican Senators refuses to show most of their colleagues and the American people their Trumpcare bill, a new poll on Wednesday reveals that support for the House version passed last month continues to lose support.
"This bill is like a vampire. It can't live when exposed to the light of day. That's why the Republican strategy has been to keep it a secret."
--Ben Wikler, Moveon.org
According to the latest Politico/Morning Consult poll, "only 35 percent of voters surveyed approve of the bill passed by the House last month. Nearly half of voters, 49 percent, disapprove of the bill." The remaining 16 percent either did not know enough or had no opinion on the question.
The new data arrives as Democrats in recent days have increased their efforts to gum up the works, vowing to slow the Republican's attempt to ram their bill through with little or no debate.
Politicoreports:
The poll underscores the risks Republicans face in pursuing legislation for which opposition is creeping toward a majority of voters. The Senate's so-far behind-closed-doors drafting process also complicates Republicans' efforts to sell the proposal to their own voters -- and there's some evidence of slippage among the GOP base on the party's Obamacare repeal bid.
Among Republican voters, 30 percent disapprove of the GOP health care bill. That is up from 15 percent of Republicans disapproving in early May.
Moreover, independent voters disapprove of the bill by a 2-to-1 margin: 26 percent approve, versus 53 percent who disapprove.
Meanwhile, outside groups have also intensified their opposition.
"This bill is like a vampire," Ben Wikler, Washington director at Moveon.org, told the Guardian on Tuesday. "It can't live when exposed to the light of day. That's why the Republican strategy has been to keep it a secret."
Leading the GOP in the Senate, Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has said he wants to bring the bill to floor for a vote before the July 4th recess begins at the end of next week.
Using various hashtags on social media--including #ProtectOurCare, #NoHearingNoVote, and #ShowUstheBill--both lawmakers and progressive advocacy groups continue to lobby voters and consumers to push back against Republican efforts: