Unsupported DNC claims on health care misinformation

In an op-ed published in late March, I predicted that misinformation about health care reform would persist after its passage:

At the White House signing ceremony for health care legislation on Tuesday, President Obama declared, "In a few moments, when I sign this bill, all of the overheated rhetoric over reform will finally confront the reality of reform." For Democrats nervous about political fallout from the bill in the November midterm elections, it's reassuring to imagine that the myths about the legislation -- that it provides free coverage to illegal immigrants, uses taxpayer money to subsidize abortions and mandates end-of-life counseling for the elderly -- will be dispelled by its passage.

But public knowledge of the plan's contents may not improve as quickly as Democrats hope. While some of the more outlandish rumors may dissipate, it is likely that misperceptions will linger for years, hindering substantive debate over the merits of the country's new health care system. The reasons are rooted in human psychology...

Surprisingly, however, DNC pollster Joel Benenson suggests in a new memo (PDF) that "misinformation about President Obama's health care reforms" is "giv[ing] way to Americans' real-life experience with it" (via Mike Allen):

However, none of the poll results cited in the memo pertain to misinformation, and I haven't seen any surveys that show a decline in misperceptions about reform. While it appears to be true, as Benenson argues, that a narrow majority of Americans oppose repealing the law, it's not clear that this finding has anything to do with a decline in misinformation. Indeed, his proposed mechanism ("real-life experience" with reform) is implausible since most of the changes in the law have not yet taken effect. Absent further evidence, the claim appears to be pure partisan bluster.

[Cross-posted to brendan-nyhan.com]