Today is day 47 of Governor Terry McAuliffe's Obamacare budget impasse. A new poll from Christopher Newport University shows that Virginia voters solidly oppose Medicaid expansion and overwhelmingly want the Governor and Senate Democrats to agree to a compromise that avoids a government shutdown.
Fifty-three percent of voters oppose Medicaid expansion while 41 percent support it, according to the poll. Among independents, 55 percent oppose expansion and 35 percent support it. Even in deeply Democratic Northern Virginia, support for expansion is mixed at best and within the margin of error.
“Democrats are losing the debate on expanding Medicaid in Virginia,” said Dr. Quentin Kidd, director of the Wason Center for Public Policy. “This is mostly because they are not convincing Independents that it will work. Voters seem to be moved by Republican skepticism. Significantly, even in the Democratic-friendly territory of Northern Virginia, support leads opposition by only 2%.”
Not surprisingly, Virginia voters overwhelmingly want to see an end to the threat of a government shutdown. According to the poll, 71 percent of voters want to see a compromise that avoids a state government shutdown.
The results of this poll speak for themselves. Virginia voters oppose Obamacare's Medicaid expansion and they want to see a compromise that avoids a government shutdown. The clear compromise is to immediately pass a clean budget that keeps state government open and continue the debate over Medicaid expansion later.