Poll-itics: Public Option Way More Popular Than Senate Health Care Version

By GottaLaff

I think the public needs some more educating before we continue to read too much into polling about this. I include myself in that statement.

I'm not saying we wouldn't still prefer a (robust) public option, but if the rest of you (well, most of you) are anything like me, you're head is spinning a little.

I'm having trouble following the winding path this debate is taking, although I have a general idea that the Medicare idea could work out if done right... whatever that means.

No, this isn't my area of expertise by a long shot, but Medicare for all was always my plan of choice, and the public option has been weakened enormously, so I'm as open as Dennis Kucinich is. On MSNBC he said, "I may be able to support" the Medicare buy-in compromise, and then went on to say, "as long as it doesn't..."-- and then he went on to list about 5 things.

Via Greg Sargent:

The new CNN poll’s internals show that the public option is more popular than the Senate health care proposal by a whopping 17 point difference.

The poll finds that only 36% favor the Senate proposal, versus 61% who oppose it.

By contrast, the poll finds that 53% favor the public option, versus 46% who oppose it.

He goes on to analyze the poll numbers. Please read.

I particularly appreciated this sentence:

It would be hard to find a clearer expression of how badly the need for a supermajority in the Senate is perverting democracy.

Ding!