For now, NC residents have positive view of Obamacare, negative view of repeal

Poll results at this point in the political cycle are like the scores for the first football game of the season: Many fans won't worry too much about a loss unless it is lopsided, knowing a lot of things can change between the beginning and end of a season. 

So, Democrats shouldn't get too excited about the results of a recent poll or North Carolina residents conducted by Raleigh-based Public Policy Polling and Republicans shouldn't get too anxious.

The poll conducted Monday and Tuesday found 44 percent of respondents approve of President Donald Trump's job performance and 50 percent disapprove.

The poll's margin of error is 3.8 percent. PPP typically works for Democratic clients.

Gov. Roy Cooper is more popular, with 48 percent approval and 33 percent disapproval. Opinion of his predecessor, Republican Gov. Pat McCrory, was evenly split, but 44 percent thought Cooper has been a better governor than McCrory and 37 percent said McCrory was better.

That's interesting because McCrory looks to be considering another run for office. Respondents were divided on whether they'd like him to run for governor.

Only 32 percent had a favorable opinion of Republicans in the General Assembly versus 55 percent who disapprove. Democrats' numbers were better, but not all that much: 37 percent favorable, 46 percent unfavorable.

Perhaps more relevant in the near future are views of the Affordable Care Act, commonly called Obamacare. Fifty-five percent of those polled said they favor keeping parts of the law that work and fixing those that don't while 37 percent said Congress should repeal it and start over.

Results for other questions on the ACA also show more negative views of recent Republican efforts to repeal and replace the law than positive ones. That is generally consistent with national polling that suggests the ACA became more popular as repeal became a real possibility.

Opinion on that topic has changed before, might change again and is much more anti-ACA among Republicans than in the general population. But the numbers suggest for now that just striking the ACA from the books would be a political liability for Republican congressional candidates in the state in the 2018 general election.