Majority of Oklahomans think Attorney General Edmondson should join lawsuit

A recent SoonerPoll finds that the majority of Oklahomans think Attorney General Drew Edmondson should join other states' attorneys general in a lawsuit against the recently passed healthcare reform law.

56 percent of likely Oklahoma voters believe Edmondson should join the thirteen other attorneys general who have already filed a lawsuit against the recently passed health care reform law. Among those who have favorable opinions of Edmondson, 49.3 percent think he should join the lawsuit, while 37.3 percent of those who find him favorable do not support filing the lawsuit.

SoonerPoll.com, Oklahoma's public opinion pollster, conducted the scientific study using live interviewers by telephone of 500 likely voters from April 5 - April 12, 2010. The study has a margin of error of ±4.38 percent.

Complete Results and Analysis

In a press conference held last Friday, Edmondson announced that he and his staff had read and reviewed the law and the reconciliation bill and decided that litigation would be costly and likely unsuccessful.

"This lawsuit is not a slam dunk, not by a long shot. That's why I chose a reasoned review over a knee-jerk reaction. It's easy for elected officials and political candidates with no seat at the table to posture, but it's an entirely different thing to sue Uncle Sam." Edmondson told reporters. "There are consequences that must be weighed."

The Fallin campaign has since scrutinized Edmondson for his position on the issue citing the results of this poll to show that Edmondson has ignored the opinions of most Oklahomans and instead fallen in line with party leaders.

"Rather than join the fight against a bill that will reduce our freedoms and cost our state hundreds of millions of dollars, Drew Edmondson has chosen to take his marching orders from Speaker Nancy Pelosi and President Barack Obama," Fallin said in a press release Tuesday. "Oklahoma families and businesses do not want this bill, they do not want the quality of their health care eroded and they do not want liberals in Washington calling the shots in Oklahoma."

"Mr. Edmondson seems to be taking a calculated risk with this issue, not only as Oklahoma's Attorney General but also a candidate for Governor," Bill Shapard, CEO of SoonerPoll said. "At this point, he is deciding against the will of the people, and only time will tell if this decision will later come back to haunt him."

It is also interesting to note that 37.3 percent of Democrats and 23.6 percent of those who consider themselves liberal think Edmondson should join the lawsuit, suggesting that other factors may play into Oklahoman's disapproval of the health care reform law.