There is no way Obama could have spent more time talking about the biggest legislative action of his presidency and still have received the incredibly broad approval he did get from people who watched the speech. Don’t expect the issue of health care to be brought up by choice by Democrats in the upcoming campaign.

The individual mandate, a requirement in the Affordable Care Act that individuals buy private health insurance or pay a fine, is still very unpopular according to the newest Kaiser Family Foundation poll. According to the poll 63 percent have a somewhat or very unfavorable opinion of the individual mandate, while only 35 percent have a very or somewhat favorable opinion of it.

Support of the Affordable Care Act, the Obama administrations signature health care law, has hit a record low. According to the Kaiser Family Foundation poll, only 34 percent of Americans have a favorable opinion of the new law while 51 percent have an unfavorable view of the law.

The insane belief common among many of the beltway pundits and politicians that the American people actually want a “grand bargain” or a “super Congress” to cut our entitlement programs has absolutely no basis in reality. It is purely a fantasy created people with lots of money, who don’t think they will ever have trouble affording the basic necessities after they retire.

It might seem like a small thing, that extra two years before Medicare eligibility, but the fact is it would hurt millions by costing them and their employers much more in health care premiums.

Americans oppose any cuts to the country’s largest social safety net programs in order to reduce the federal deficit according to a new Kaiser Family Foundation poll (PDF). Two-thirds of Americans want no reductions in Social Security, 59 percent want no cuts to Medicare, and 53 percent want no reductions in Medicaid spending. On the other hand, 57 percent would support either major or minor reductions in defense spending to reduce the deficit.

When simply asked whether they wanted Medicare to remain a defined benefits plan or see it changed into a voucher system to buy private insurance, a full 65 percent of Americans said they were opposed to this change, while only 34 percent supported it. After the poll explained that the cost of private insurance would likely rise faster than the value of the vouchers, causing seniors to pay more for insurance (as the CBO says would happen under the House Republican budget), the total opposed jumped to 84 percent.

Since it is unlikely Obama is going to achieve any new major accomplishments with a Republican House, or pass any improvements to health care that could make the law more popular, he is going to have the unenviable task of running for re-election with his biggest achievement unpopular and slowly leaking support.

Can Republicans successfully exploit voters anger about the health care law in 2012 like they did in 2010 if large parts of the electorate thinks the law is already gone?

I know this is often hard for professional politicians and political aides to comprehend, but regular Americans really don’t pay attention to abstract congressional maneuvers. If the Senate Democratic caucus thinks reforming Senate rules is a good thing that would eventually will lead to better policy outcomes, they should implement them. If they don’t think it will, they shouldn’t make the change. But what definitely shouldn’t be part of their decision making process is any concern that slightly modifying the rule could cause a broad political backlash. There simply won’t be any.