Congressional Republicans can take heart that their messaging on health care, specifically the soon-to-expire State Children’s Health Insurance Program, is working well with voters. The White House Bulletin ($) reports today that polling conducted by the Winston Group gives the GOP an edge over Democrats.

Respondents were given a choice of the two parties messages on the expansion of SCHIP. 40% said they agreed more with “Democrats who say no child in our nation should go without health care and that the Republican fringe is blocking legislation to do that, and doesn’t seem to care much about children.” 49% said they agreed more with “Republicans who say that we need to focus on covering uninsured children without expanding government coverage to adults, illegal immigrants and those who already have insurance, and not cut benefits for seniors.” Independents also favor the GOP position by a 47-38 margin.

When pollsters asked about crowd-out, the term coined for those who can afford private insurance but instead opt for public assistance, Republicans also performed well.

A different facet of the issue produced an even larger margin for the GOP position. 40% said they agreed more with “Democrats who say no child in our nation should go without health care and that the Republican fringe is blocking legislation to do that, and doesn’t seem to care much about children.” 53% said they agreed more with “Republicans who say that we need a bill that covers all children under the age of 18 who do not have insurance, but not those who are over 18 and already have insurance.” Independents backed that GOP message by a 54-33 margin.

Although this is only one poll and just a snapshot of a much larger issue, it’s encouraging to see that Americans continue to hold limited-government views about health care. Only a couple weeks remain before SCHIP expires on Sept. 30. Hopefully these poll numbers will embolden Republicans to stick to conservative principles.