Via the Maryland Citizens' Health Initiative, some interesting data that Roscoe Bartlett may want to keep in mind when the veto override vote for SCHIP comes up this Thursday:
Maryland 6th CD Voters overwhelmingly support SCHIP legislation
Voters of all types in Maryland’s 6th Congressional district support the Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) legislation Congress passed recently and vetoed by President Bush. Nearly six in ten (59%) voters support the legislation, and about four in ten (39%) strongly support SCHIP.
Support for SCHIP crosses all party lines and income levels in this strong GOP district. Three in four (77%) Democrats, three in five (59%) Independents, and nearly half (47%) of Republicans support SCHIP legislation. Support is strong across all income levels also: voters who earn less than $35,000 in income (59%), those with $35,000-75,000 (61%), and those with greater than $75,000 in income (59%) all favor SCHIP.
A majority want Bartlett to override the Bush veto – 6th is strongest GOP district in the Northeast
Half (50%) of all voters in the 6th Congressional district want their long time Republican Congressmen, Roscoe Bartlett, to vote to override Bush’s veto, with 35% who disagree. Support for overriding the veto not unsurprisingly includes most Democrats (70%); however a majority of Independents (51%) also want Bartlett to break with the President on the issue of supporting more spending on children’s health care. Only GOP voters are split: 35% of Republicans want Bartlett to override the President’s veto and 47% want it sustained. GOP voters are the largest voting bloc by party in this Congressional district – fully 65% of voters in the 6th voted for President Bush in 2004, more than any other district in the northeast.
Methodology
Penn, Schoen and Berland Associates conducted telephone interviews with 404 likely voters in Maryland’s 6th Congressional district on October 9 and 10. The margin of error for this poll is +/- 4.9% and larger for subgroups.
