September 16, 2010 5:06PM # Avoiding the ‘U’ Word By [Michael F. Cannon](https://www.cato.org/people/michael-f-cannon) --- SHARE I grow increasingly amused at how some people carefully avoid saying that [ObamaCare](https://www.cato.org/pubs/wtpapers/BadMedicineWP.pdf) is unpopular. When Poll​ster​.com aggregates all the various polls on [ObamaCare’s popularity](http://www.pollster.com/polls/us/healthplan.php), it reveals that a plurality or majority of the public has consistently opposed the law since before the angry town-hall meetings of August 2009: It’s no surprise when HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius avoids the U‑word by saying stuff like, “[We have a lot of reeducation to do](http://blogs.abcnews.com/thenote/2010/08/sebelius-time-for-reeducation-on-obama-health-care-law.html).” (To be clear, she’s talking about reeducating *you*, not herself.) But it’s odd when a *Washington Post* [news item](http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/09/14/AR2010091402458.html) describes the public as “profoundly ambivalent” toward the law. (According to [Merriam-Webster](http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/ambivalent), ambivalence means holding “simultaneous and contradictory attitudes or feelings,” “continual fluctuation,” or “uncertainty as to which approach to follow.”) Or when Kaiser Family Foundation president and CEO Drew Altman [tells](http://www.npr.org/blogs/health/2010/08/31/129556265/public-opinion-on-health-law-dips-again) NPR: “The public is split, has been split, and continues to be split.” I guess those descriptions are true (though “continual fluctuation” and “uncertainty” seem like a stretch). But they’re not very informative. “Ambivalent” doesn’t tell you if one side dominates. “Split” could accurately describe anything shy of unanimity. “Opposed” or “unpopular” or “consensus” would convey so much more information. Why convey less? ##### Related Tags [General](https://www.cato.org/general), [Government and Politics](https://www.cato.org/government-politics), [Health Care](https://www.cato.org/health-care) [![Creative Commons License](/build/cato_2020/images/creative-commons.svg)](http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/) This work is licensed under a [Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/).