Cooper Rebuts Daily Kos Poll Results
Posted on August 24, 2009 at 1:15 pmNashville’s congressman fires back against a poll commissioned by a notorious liberal blog which implies that he is out of touch with his district on health care and vulnerable to a primary challenge from the left:
“Private polls are inherently inaccurate, and most people disregard them. He who pays the piper calls the tune, and the Daily Kos got what it wanted. The whole premise of the poll is that I oppose a public option, and that is simply not true. I have repeatedly said that I’m FOR a public option, and that there are multiple ways to do it. I agree with Sen. Chuck Schumer’s position on the issue, and the Daily Kos is not attacking him.
“The Daily Kos can assign a false position to me if it wants, but it’s not accurate.
“In addition, I did find things to like about this poll! Only 23% want to replace me? That’s great, since 34% VOTED to replace me in 2008. At this point, I might be gaining support.
“But the real reason you have to doubt a poll like this is the following: President Obama won my district with 56% of the vote. This poll shows his favorable number at 66%, up 10 points. While I would like to think that President Obama’s numbers were that good, we all know that the polls have been bad for our President this month. The President has lost ground all over the country, but in the 5th district of Tennessee, he’s up by 10? I wish it were true, but I doubt seriously that it is.
“I will continue my fight for health reform. We need to cover EVERYONE, and we need to do so responsibly so that we don’t bankrupt the country. This has always been my position, this is the President’s position, and I will continue to work with him to get the job done.”
Comments
44 Responses to “Cooper Rebuts Daily Kos Poll Results”
Hey, Barry, are you comfortable there under Coop’s bus?
What did Shakespeare say? The lady doth protest too much? Sounds like Cooper is about to blow a gasket over all the pressure. He’s not used to anyone questioning him since he’s so much smarter than everyone else.
I think I pointed that out in a previous thread.
Wow.
But.. isn’t he smarter than the rest of us?
First of all it’s not a private poll, it was released publically.
And they tested Obama’s favorables, which is different than approval. His personal favorables typically run 10 points higher than his approval, so this poll seems legit to me.
If he were to get a primary challenge, he wouldn’t be able to bank on much cross-over support. Republican voters will be voting in the GOP gubernatorial primary. Those conservative-leaning precincts in the non-Davidson part of the district, or the well-off neighborhoods in the southern part of Davidson? They’ll be voting in the Ramsey/Haslam/Wamp standoff.
Cooper is much more vulnerable than he seems to think. This isn’t about the degree to which the 5th is liberal, it’s about how motivated the crowd who used to be called “Chipinista” are to take him out, and if any Democrat with any real juice is willing to run against Cooper. Without significant cross-over, which he won’t get, Cooper would have a race on his hands. And whoever were to get the Democratic nomination would win the 5th in a walkover.
A lot of private polls are released publicly, Ben. It was privately commissioned by Daily Kos, which is what the congressman was referring to. The alternative is a news service poll, like CNN, Washington Post, etc., or a Gallup-type survey. I hate to say it, but Daily Kos polling is not on the level with these guys.
And what’s your basis for his “personal favorables” running higher than job approval? And since this poll did not differentiate and test for job approval, your assertion, even if correct, isn’t applicable.
Also, notice the “favorability” for Lamar Alexander. Alexander’s not been outspoken on the issues, and should have gotten props from the left for voting to confirm Sotomayor. Yet his unfavorability rating is 61 PERCENT in the 5th District, according to this poll. Which is odd, considering that he carried Davidson County in 2008 with 51% of the vote. And that doesn’t even take into consideration the Mt. Juliet half of Wilson County, which is also part of the 5th district.
I agree that he’s more exposed to the left than to the right, certainly, but I can’t stand when folks assume they know more about a topic than their opponent solely by virtue of the fact that they disagree. Do your research and pick your battles and you won’t seem so shrill.
“And what’s your basis for his ‘personal favorables’ running higher than job approval? ”
Exit polling in November that showed Obama at about 63% personal favorability, about 10% higher than his vote tally?
[...] “And what’s your basis for his ‘personal… [...]
“Lamar Alexander. Alexander’s not been outspoken on the issues, and should have gotten props from the left for voting to confirm Sotomayor”
Incredible… you really think so? One single vote, and we’re supposed to kiss his ass?
Daily Kos is a media organization, but for media organizations there would be to public polls for Congressional districts, only internal campaign polls.
Even if the weighting of this poll is skewed more towards Democrats, his numbers among Democrats still show heavy disapproval of his stance on health care, which is what he should be concerned about in a Democratic primary.
would be to public rather, would be NO public polls
Cooper would not hear on anything public! He likes co-op’s - unless it’s for utilities then he is against it.
The man is out of touch with his district. He needs to go.
OG DG, I’m not saying we should support Alexander. All I’m saying is that a 61% disapproval of him is not realistic given the electoral and political facts of the district. That number being so far off base is evidence of a compromised poll generally, in addition to the points Cooper made.
To please kossacks in terms of beating Cooper, the candidate would have to support and prioritize a) a single payer health care plan and b) repeal of Defense of Marriage Act and they would have to do so vociferously. So, under those 2 facts, would Karl Dean? Howard Gentry, Jr.? Bill Purcell? Jerry Maynard? run solely on the kossack issues of single payer/repeal DOMA? And, if so, could they beat Cooper anyway?
I think the only one I would say would definitely run on those issues if told (and they would get funded nationally by the “netroots”) it would be Maynard.
Frank,
First off, its not about what Kossacks want, but rather what the Democrats who nominate him every 2 years want.
Second, Kos hasn’t been pushing Single Payer despite a few asides about how it would be nice.
Third, why the hell shouldn’t we have a nominee who opposes DOMA? The President opposed it, and he won the district, no reason a Congressman couldn’t do the same.
Frank, you’re making things up. The disgust with Cooper has nothing to do with single payer, or with DOMA, but with his past history with healthcare and his double talk about what he supports. Without crossover voting, he might face primary trouble.
I missed the public appearances and wasn’t watching TV when Obama flooded the Nashville market with his priority of repealing DOMA.
Kos hasn’t been “pushing” single payer most likely because even in his carefully worded push polls he couldn’t come up with a poll that claimed support for that issue (even if he included 40% “non-voters” rather than his standard 10% that always and miraculously are 95+% “liberal”).
As an aside, I am not a cooper fan. And always considered it Hillary Clintonesque that Davidson County had no one worthy of a Congressional seat other than someone who formerly represented Shelbyville and the rest of that district in Congress. But if kossacks run someone who prioritizes repealing DOMA and a single payer/public option plan, cooper will remain in office until he decides to cash-in in the private sector.
The disgust with Cooper has nothing to do with single payer, or with DOMA, but with his past history with healthcare and his double talk about what he supports. Without crossover voting, he might face primary trouble.
When I mention DOMA and single payer, I am referring to the 2 priorities of the kossack world. With the torture of poor Muslims running a distant third.
Now, if you want to talk about beating Cooper, you are going to have to come up with someone with similar views as Cooper fiscally with a bit more of a populist streak. I don’t know if such an animal exists in Davidson County politics? But if one did, he wouldn’t get kossack support.
But if kossacks run someone who prioritizes repealing DOMA and a single payer/public option plan, cooper will remain in office until he decides to cash-in in the private sector.
If “Kossacks” run anyone that candidate won’t win because you need broad support. If labor will financially back an otherwise viable candidate who happens to support health care reform with a public option and, btw, doesn’t hate on the gays…then they’d have a shot.
Regardless, all this talk is moot if Congress does (as I assume they will) pass some version of health care reform by the end of the year. The people of Davidson county aren’t going to retroactively punish Cooper for talking out of both sides of his mouth during this debate, and he’s going to vote for the final reconciliation bill, whatever it looks like, after the House and Senate agree to a compromise.
Regardless, all this talk is moot if Congress does (as I assume they will) pass some version of health care reform by the end of the year.
Talking purely political predictions, I agree with you. I think Congress will pass essentially an expansion of Medicaid along the lines of S-CHIP which will expand the qualifying position for Medicaid to around 200%+ of the federal povery level and illegal immigrants.
Heh, so you think we can get 60 votes for expanded medical coverage for illegal immigrants, but not a bill that seeks to reduce costs for average Americans and expand it for the lower middle class?
We got it for S-Chip. Why not for the “working poor”? President Obama promised to provide health insurance for 47 million people Living In America. This is a way for him to go a long way toward delivering on his promise to those millions Living in America, the Demcocrats to expand their voting base and the Republicans to claim they stopped the singe payer/public option while protecting Medicaid and Medicare. I’m thinking Snowe and Collins can support that to go with the 58 Democrats (considering Kennedy and Byrd out of action) and the House will pass anything that expands government health care.
As far as costs? Costs? who are you kidding? That is a talking point. For Dems this is about expanding goverment health care and for Repubs this is about fighting “socialism”. Win-win for the pols, lose-lose for current and future taxpayers (which are dwindling below 50% of the population anyway).
The problem is, Democrats don’t want to just expand Medicaid, as doing so wouldn’t reduce cost inflation for the middle class (the voters we are really worried about) and wouldn’t do much of anything for those who are in the middle class but can’t get coverage because of pre-existing coverage.
Its the idea of health insurance reform that got Democrats and Obama elected, not just the prospect of expanding taxpayer funded insurance to the slightly less poor.
Well, obviously I disagree on what got Obama elected. Suffice it to say I think it pretty much begins and ends with Iraq and that McCain had the same letter next to his name as Bush did.
Regardless, if costs truly were the priority of the Obama administration, that could be accomplished (fought) without the public option being the issue. The public option is about the “47 million uninsured Living in America” and THAT is the priority of the left wing blogosphre.
But, if costs WERE the issue and coverage was limited to the pre-existing coverage issue, that could be done by tighter regulation of the private health insurance industry, reducing the life of patents, and a menu of other items including, but certainly NOT limited to, modest tort reform. But that supposes that costs and pre-existing coverage were the issues here. They are not. The goal of the House, the leftwing blogosphere and Obama to date is to cover 47 million Living in America and to undercut by expanding free coverage ala’ SCHIP to bankrupt the private health plans into oblivion.
Sean..
Yes that was before they knew their plan.
Now the people have seen the plan.. and they are saying WOAH NELLIE..
Stimulus 850 Billion , Omnobus Spending Bill 750 Billion, Cap and Trade 700 Billion , Healhcare 1600 billion…
The people are getting STICKER SHOCK
Frank,
The public option isn’t about covering the uninsured, the reform plan does that without a public option, its about cost controls in that it keeps prices in the health care system from rising as fast as they have been. The reform bill, as projected by the CBO, costs more without the public option than it does with it.
TNVol,
The vast majority know next to little about the plan beyond a few soundbite distortions by the conservative media. The plan hasn’t differed much at all from the plan Obama ran on in 2008.
Sean’s right, this plan is what he ran on, and he was vulnerable in the primaries, as Hillary Clinton’s proposal was much more aggressive in mandates and taxation.
Sean it is not about Cost control
The CBO has said this plan WILL NOT repeat WILL NOT control Costs
And Will only Cover 5,000,000 of the 50,000,000 uninsured…
At a cost of 1.6 Trillion dollars…
Now throw this little tidbit into the mix.
Released 3 pm last Friday so noone would notice..
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5jlcXCMAYHomJxFTRXWcX1R6JHFDAD9A9GKV00
The White House’s Office of Management and Budget is expected to forecast $9 trillion in deficits over the next 10 years, up from a $7 trillion estimate earlier this year, according to White House officials who spoke last week on the condition of anonymity. The increase is largely due to lower-than-expected tax revenues as a result of the recession.
TNVolunteer75 said –
“Sean it is not about Cost control. The CBO has said this plan WILL NOT repeat WILL NOT control Costs. And Will only Cover 5,000,000 of the 50,000,000 uninsured… At a cost of 1.6 Trillion dollars…”
Wrong.
You are talking about the CBO’s PRELIMINARY ANALYSIS, not their FINAL REPORT that was released on July 17.
In the preliminary analysis, the CBO had not factored in the public option, which is actually the mechanism that lowers the cost of the legislation. Here’s what the House Ways & Means Committee had to say about H.R. 3200 after the CBO’s final report came out:
“Washington, D.C. — The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) released estimates this evening confirming for the first time that H.R. 3200, America’s Affordable Health Choices Act, is deficit neutral over the 10-year budget window – and even produces a $6 billion surplus. CBO estimated more than $550 billion in gross Medicare and Medicaid savings. More importantly, the bill includes a comprehensive array of delivery reforms to set the stage for lowering the future growth in health care costs.”
Read their full statement here:
http://waysandmeans.house.gov/News.asp?FormMode=release&ID=919
And here’s the complete FINAL report (not the one that TNVol and the Republicans cite) that the CBO did:
http://www.cbo.gov/ftpdocs/104xx/doc10464/hr3200.pdf
Largely, what the CBO found in the final report was that if the public option was implemented and that Medicare overpayments were reined in per the mechanisms that the bill will create through the PAYGO Act, that we would see a deficit-neutral healthcare reform bill 10 years after implementation.
Cooper talks out of both sides of his mouth.
He said the oposite on Ralph Bristols show yesterday morning.
Time to retire or be fired coop.
Does anyone really know where Cooper stands? I could have sworn I heard him say he would NOT vote for the House version of the bill…wil he? or Wont’ he?
Rep Cooper needs to listen up as Daily Kos is on target and I believe Nate Silvers poll backs Dailey(i put no trust in gallup) Kos.Sean B is correct the pUblic Option is the Trigger to force Big Ins to lower their prems in order to compete but big Ins saids ,No, We don’t want to compete we want 400-500% Profit . There would be a glut of customers if big Ins gets their way and their profit margins would only increase and that would put a lot of small biz’s like mine out of biz,as its becoming harder for us to offer Health Ins to our employees. So Mr Cooper its tme to get on board with your 5th District or become a retiree.That is the long and short of it.
Daily Kos is not on target. If you want to play the game purely on statistics and perceived Demographics based on presidential election results then you could say that the Representative (or Senator) MUST vote the “party line” based upon how his/her district voted in a Presidential election. That would mean Tanner, Gordon and Davis MUST vehemently be against a public option or any governmental health care program since their districts are “Republican” in Presidential election.
The fact is Cooper’s district has a heavy concentration of those employed by the PRIVATE health care industry, Cooper’s district has a heavy concentration of those already insured by government (be it Medicaid, Medicare or state/local plans). DK would like to believe that since Cooper’s district voted strongly for Obama that it MUST then happen that Cooper MUST support Obamacare. So, if that is the standard, Cooper’s vote MUST be traded for Gordon, Tanner and Davis’s, not to mention 100 of other Democrats whose districts voted for McCain/the GOP.
Where is he getting this “We need to cover everyone?”
Let him and all his liberal do-gooder cronies take care of all these deadbeats if he is so fond of them.
I’m for getting rid of this “We” stuff.
This article is important to me on 3 fronts.
Firstly, some people keep trying to act is if I myself ‘am Gay’, while I am actually a ‘manly man’ and not uncomfortable being sensative. With a given middle name like “Tharon”, and the audacity to go by it as usual; rather than Commonly use my first name of ‘William’, this really upsets some big dems and repubs such as supporters of Fred Thompson (hailing from my former home T in L’bird) and more specificly Senator Doug Jackson. See, some ’sophisticated groups’ are into Usurping the ‘matching funds’ from every candidate (for which they must at least have a valid opponent), and so they USE people with good names such as “William Chandler” (as to sew and reap the secret kitty). Their elite fascism causes problems to regular careers and to normal social relationships. They have ruined my life. AND Also; I’m Not Gay. Peace.
Re: “So get this. [Nosey] got word this past week that Nashville was ranked No. 1 by men’s shower/hair/body spray company AXE as America’s “worst city for a man to show off his sensitive side.”
Here is my reasoning as to why Rep Cooper maybe forced into early retirement and the 5th district has always been a liberal district. repigs have tried many times to redraw the lines but we always manage to break beyond their drawings and that is another story for another time. Blue Dogs are in trouble as they need us more than we need them. Every 2 yrs we go ahead and vote for Blue Dogs as they are sorta Dems but I think with Health Care needing to be reformed for all Americans as the Consitution ststes ,the congress shall take care of the people.Its time that Congress takes care of The People and not the top 1 % ..
So here is the take down on how many Americans want Reform, Blue Dogs and Repigs are you Listening Yet?
A whopping 76% of voters want health insurance reform to include the choice of a Public Option. In the words of President Obama, the choice of a Public Option will, “keep the insurance companies honest.”
So the insurance companies and right wing nut cases are fighting tooth and nail to get Democrats to cave on the public option and vote for fake reform like a “trigger” or co-opts. We can’t let Democrats capitulate, we need to support Democrats only passing a bill with a strong public option.FDL
Take Notice and serious notice B/D’s are going to get a “Primary” unless they give the 76% the Public Option so that will force Big Blue, CIGNA and other Big Ins to come into line on Prems. My co’s Prems are due to increase 10 1/2 % and that will kill ins for everyone who works for us. So Rep Cooper if you want Progressive’s and Liberals Vote ,you know you have to change with the times.
Thank you Rep Cooper, for telling the truth. But, the GOP does not believe in anything but guns, the churches ruling TN, gays and abortion. We need a thinking man on important issues, and I have always found you to be that kind of guy. A poll can get any kind of results that they want. It is how the questions are asked. Charlie Cook and his polling always favor the GOP.
So Bob, “We the People” isn’t good enough for you?
You can’t get more un-American than that.
The new GOP slogan: “PARTY FIRST, AMERICA LAST”.
I have no idea where Cooper stands. He wrote in the Tennessean a few weeks ago that he opposed the HR 3200, which is the public option bill. The bill he claims to support does not have a public option. But this week, facing pressure from pro-public option folks, he said he favored the public option. And many weeks ago he said he favored the public option when he spoke before some Democrats.
He was for the public option before he was against it, then he was for it again, but might now be against it too.
Youtube video of Cooper saying he supports public option:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BlJ1Lnq4FIk
Tennessean op-ed where Cooper says he is a “reluctant no” vote on HR 3200, the public option bill:
http://www.tennessean.com/article/20090726/OPINION01/907260349
Cooper, which is it? If I ask you that, will you insult me and tell me I’m not very smart? (like you told your own constituents recently).
Or maybe he wants to claim to be in favor of the public option, but just not the bill w/ the public option that actually has the best chance of passing.
The really amazing item here is Rep Cooper didn’t recognize that the vast majority of respondents to the poll were DEMOCRATS! Dems outnumbered Republicans 2 to 1… just imagine what the outcome would have been if it was a balanced list…
The problem is our esteemed rep, the mental midget, didn’t even acknowledge he was given a vote of no confidence primarily by his own party.
What a moron…but it appears he’s “our” moron…
Union Thug writes
August 24th, 2009 6:58 pm
TNVolunteer75 said –
“Sean it is not about Cost control. The CBO has said this plan WILL NOT repeat WILL NOT control Costs. And Will only Cover 5,000,000 of the 50,000,000 uninsured… At a cost of 1.6 Trillion dollars…”
Wrong.
You are talking about the CBO’s PRELIMINARY ANALYSIS, not their FINAL REPORT that was released on July 17.
In the preliminary analysis, the CBO had not factored in the public option, which is actually the mechanism that lowers the cost of the legislation. Here’s what the House Ways & Means Committee had to say about H.R. 3200 after the CBO’s final report came out:
“Washington, D.C. — The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) released estimates this evening confirming for the first time that H.R. 3200, America’s Affordable Health Choices Act, is deficit neutral over the 10-year budget window – and even produces a $6 billion surplus. CBO estimated more than $550 billion in gross Medicare and Medicaid savings. More importantly, the bill includes a comprehensive array of delivery reforms to set the stage for lowering the future growth in health care costs.”
Read their full statement here:
http://waysandmeans.house.gov/News.asp?FormMode=release&ID=919
And here’s the complete FINAL report (not the one that TNVol and the Republicans cite) that the CBO did:
http://www.cbo.gov/ftpdocs/104xx/doc10464/hr3200.pdf
Largely, what the CBO found in the final report was that if the public option was implemented and that Medicare overpayments were reined in per the mechanisms that the bill will create through the PAYGO Act, that we would see a deficit-neutral healthcare reform bill 10 years after implementation.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
THUG MAYBE YOU NEED TO READ YOUR OWN LINK… THE REVISED CBO REPORT.
“By the end of the 10-year period, in 2019, the coverage provisions would add
$202 billion to the federal deficit, CBO and JCT estimate.”
IT WILL AD ~1/4 TRILLION DOLLARS TO THE DEFICT…
NON-UNION TEA PARTY SUPPORTER DEFEATS ANOTHER UNION THUG…
I will expect an apology from you hand written on your union card. with gladness.
TNVolunteer73 writes
Your comment is awaiting moderation. August 26th, 2009 12:53 pm
Union Thug writes
August 24th, 2009 6:58 pm
TNVolunteer75 said –
“Sean it is not about Cost control. The CBO has said this plan WILL NOT repeat WILL NOT control Costs. And Will only Cover 5,000,000 of the 50,000,000 uninsured… At a cost of 1.6 Trillion dollars…”
Wrong.
You are talking about the CBO’s PRELIMINARY ANALYSIS, not their FINAL REPORT that was released on July 17.
In the preliminary analysis, the CBO had not factored in the public option, which is actually the mechanism that lowers the cost of the legislation. Here’s what the House Ways & Means Committee had to say about H.R. 3200 after the CBO’s final report came out:
“Washington, D.C. — The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) released estimates this evening confirming for the first time that H.R. 3200, America’s Affordable Health Choices Act, is deficit neutral over the 10-year budget window – and even produces a $6 billion surplus. CBO estimated more than $550 billion in gross Medicare and Medicaid savings. More importantly, the bill includes a comprehensive array of delivery reforms to set the stage for lowering the future growth in health care costs.”
And here’s the complete FINAL report (not the one that TNVol and the Republicans cite) that the CBO did:
http://www.cbo.gov/ftpdocs/104xx/doc10464/hr3200.pdf
Largely, what the CBO found in the final report was that if the public option was implemented and that Medicare overpayments were reined in per the mechanisms that the bill will create through the PAYGO Act, that we would see a deficit-neutral healthcare reform bill 10 years after implementation.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
THUG MAYBE YOU NEED TO READ YOUR OWN LINK… THE REVISED FINAL CBO REPORT.
“By the end of the 10-year period, in 2019, the coverage provisions would add $202 billion to the federal deficit, CBO and JCT estimate.”
IT WILL ADD ~1/4 TRILLION DOLLARS TO THE DEFICT…
NON-UNION TEA PARTY SUPPORTER DEFEATS ANOTHER UNION THUG…
I will expect an apology from you hand written on your union card. with gladness.