Fort Myers area Republican Congressman Connie Mack IV, an all but declared candidate for the Republican nomination for U.S. Senate in 2012, appeared on MSNBC's Morning Joe program this morning in New York to discuss various issues in the news.
When he was asked by hosts Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski if he would sit next to Maryland Democrat Chris Van Hollen (who was also appearing on the segment by remote from Washington) during next week's State of the Union address?
Mack said he'd probably sit next to his wife (Southern California Republican Congresswoman Mary Bono) but that it was a fine idea nonetheless. He added that the American people ultimately wanted to see action. "They want to see us working on things like, frankly, repealing health care...."
However, though major polls do show a majority of the public supporting repeal, two recent surveys show that doing so is hardly the first thing on people's minds.
An Associated Press GfK survey found a 41%-40% split on whether to support the bill - but on repeal itself, the poll found that 62% want to leave the law as is or expand it, while 36% want to repeal or reduce its scope. And a Marist/McClatchy survey, said 49 percent of those it surveyed wanted to let the law stand or expand it while 42 percent wanted to repeal it or scale it back, with 9 percent undecided. That poll also said that 48% of independents support the law, and 45% of such independents wanted it repealed.
But with Republicans poised to begin debate today and vote tomorrow on repeal (in a purely symbolic gesture), it's too late to interrupt the narrative that apparently everyone hates the legislation.
Mack was confronted by former Boston Globe columnist and now Morning Joe regular Mike Barnicle about his call for repeal:
