New Jerseyans generally support the health care reform law passed by Congress and signed by President Obama, a Rutgers-Eagleton Poll made public Thursday shows. While a late February poll found that two-thirds of New Jerseyans believed that Congress should start over with the bill, 48 percent now support the law, while 40 percent oppose it and 12 percent don’t know. Support is slightly lower among registered voters at 47 percent, with 41 percent opposing the bill. The poll of 953 adults was conducted from March 31 to Saturday, and has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.2 percentage points. The poll includes a subsample of 845 registered voters.

“New Jerseyans have been supportive of some kind of health care reform all along,” said David Redlawsk, poll director and a Rutgers professor of political science. “But many were confused by the process and, as a result, polling seemed to say they would oppose the bill that ultimately was passed; however, this turns out not to be the case.”

Republicans strongly oppose the law, with only 9 percent saying they support it and 83 percent opposed. The remaining 8 percent are not sure.

In turn, 76 percent of Democrats support the law and only 16 percent oppose it, with 8 percent unsure.

Independents are more mixed, with 43 percent in support and 40 percent opposed, while 17 percent are unsure.

Ideological moderates, regardless of party, support the new law, 51 percent to 35 percent, while 14 percent don’t know.

Support for health care reform is strongest among New Jerseyans with household incomes under $50,000 at 59 percent, while 38 percent of those with household incomes over $150,000 support the legislation.

“Support for this health care reform law is solid among moderates and among people who are most likely to benefit,” Redlawsk said. “While there is significant opposition, it generally comes from those less likely to support Democrats, suggesting that passage of health care reform is unlikely to hurt Democratic candidates significantly in New Jersey.”

Opponents of the law were asked if their opposition is because the bill is “too liberal” or because it is “not liberal enough.” Three-quarters of opponents say the law is too liberal, but 14 percent said they oppose the law because it is not liberal enough.

Most Republican opponents, 87 percent, say the law is too liberal, while a majority of the relatively small number of Democrats opposed, 57 percent, also say it is too liberal. Among independents who oppose the law, 66 percent call it too liberal and 21 percent not liberal enough.

“Digging deeper into the opposition to this law, we see that while most opponents are driven by the belief the bill is too liberal, not all are,” Redlawsk said. “In the end, only 30 percent of New Jerseyans oppose this bill because it is too liberal, far less than it appears when the reason for opposition is not probed.” Njnewsroom.