Poll: Majority want work to continue on health care reform bill

Washington (CNN) - Nearly two-thirds of Americans want Congress to keep trying to pass a health care reform bill, according to a new national poll.

The ABC News/Washington Post survey released Tuesday afternoon also indicates that the public spreads the blame when it comes to a lack of bipartisanship in the nation's capital.

Fifty-eight percent of people questioned in the poll say that congressional Republicans aren't doing enough to seek compromise with President Barack Obama on important issues, with 44 percent feeling that Obama is doing too little to forge compromise with the GOP.

The survey indicates that 56 percent of independent voters say congressional Republicans aren't doing enough to try and work with the president and Democrats in Congress. Half of independents see the president as too unwilling to compromise and 28 percent feel both parties are not doing enough when it comes to bipartisanship.

According to the poll, 63 percent of Americans think federal lawmakers should keep trying to pass a comprehensive health care reform plan, including 88 percent of Democrats questioned, 56 percent of independents and 42 percent of Republicans. Fifty-five percent of Republicans feel Congress should give up on health care reform.

The survey's release comes hours after the president met at the White House with congressional leaders from both parties. Obama said that he doesn't want a February 25 televised bipartisan meeting on health care reform to be reduced to "political theater."

The president said he hopes to "establish some common facts" and reach agreement on what the most significant health care problems are. He said he's willing to consider measures such as tort reform, which "make my party uncomfortable."

But bipartisanship cannot only mean "Democrats give up everything they believe in," he added.

Obama indicated Tuesday he's open to "incremental steps" on job growth legislation, saying "it's realistic for us to get a package moving quickly that may not include all the things I think need to be done."

Obama said he hoped an initial bill would help "build trust" and allow Congress to then move on to other measures.

A recent CNN/Opinion Research Corporation poll indicated that nearly half of the public was angry at both the Democratic and Republican parties when it comes to how the political parties have been dealing with the country's problems.

"The public seems fed up with both parties and there is more than enough blame to go around this year," said CNN Polling Director Keating Holland. "That's not good news for incumbents on either side of the aisle."

The ABC News/Washington Post poll was conducted Thursday through Monday, with 1,004 adults questioned by telephone. The survey's overall sampling error is plus or minus 3 percentage points.

–CNN Deputy Political Director Paul Steinhauser contributed to this report.