Obamacare Got More Popular During the Shutdown

A key argument of proponents of this month's government shutdown was that Americans oppose Obamacare. On the net, they do. But the shutdown itself may have actually boosted the law's poll numbers, according to a new survey from Gallup.

The polling company completed a survey evaluating public perceptions of the Affordable Care Act, better known as Obamacare. On the whole, Americans still oppose the law, which is set to go into full effect in January. But: slightly less than they did in August.

The most interesting details are buried a little bit deeper. For example, Gallup compared the August and October responses by political party. Republicans have always strongly opposed the law, but their opposition only grew by 2 percentage points over the course of the shutdown. Democrats have always strongly supported the law -- but the net approval rose 14 points over the course of the shutdown. Most disconcerting to Republicans should be that third number: opposition to the law dropped by 8 percentage points among independents.

Read more on The Atlantic Wire.