Parsing public opinion about Obamacare -- and GOP repeal efforts

The Washington Post's Fact Checker finds a recent Obamacare poll by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce presented data "in a highly misleading way," while a memo by President Barack Obama's pollster asserts that GOP efforts to repeal the health law have support of only about half of GOP voters.

The Washington Post's The Fact Checker: A Misleading 'Obamacare' Poll, Courtesy Of The Chamber Of Commerce And Harris Interactive
We have long warned readers about the perils of relying on data from opt-in Internet polls, especially those that make broad claims about estimating population values. We have given Pinocchios both to President Obama, for relying on an opt-in poll when he claimed that a majority of millionaires support the Buffett rule, and the National Rifle Association, for asserting that an opt-in poll reflected the views of the nation's police. This is a yet another case, but with a wrinkle. Here, the polling company, Harris Interactive, and the sponsor, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, presented the data in a highly misleading way - and then made false claims about the type of poll that had been conducted (Kessler, 7/31).