If I see one more pundit or politician say the public has rejected the Democrats' agenda, I'm going to scream. Fact-free diatribes about socialism and big government, finding validation for their own memes in every political breeze -- we are being ill-served by the establishment to say the least. I never thought of myself as part of the "silent majority" but here I am -- Villagers to one side, teabaggers on the other, and I'm stuck in the middle begging for something to be done.
Here's a summary of findings from the February 2010 Franklin & Marshall College poll. The MOE is 3.5%. The full pdf is here. The poll was conducted February 2 – 8, 2010 -- well after the Virginia governor's race proved "the honeymoon is over", well after the New Jersey governor's race proved "Americans are rejecting Obama's socialist agenda", well after the Massachusetts Senate special election proved "the American people just don't want Obamacare".
82% -- Requiring insurance companies to sell health
coverage to people, even if they have preexisting
medical conditions (62% strongly, 20% somewhat)
68% -- Expanding Medicaid to provide insurance coverage to more low income citizens (42% strongly, 26% somewhat)
62% -- Requiring all businesses to provide health insurance to their employees or pay money into a government fund that pays to cover those without insurance (41% strongly, 21% somewhat)
62% -- Expanding Medicare to cover MORE Americans (39% strongly, 23% somewhat)
62% -- Requiring that all Americans have health insurance, with the government providing financial help for those who can’t afford it
(38% strongly, 24% somewhat)
50% -- Expanding Medicare to cover everyone who does not have health insurance (32% strongly, 18% somewhat)
55% -- Creating a government health insurance plan similar to Medicare that provides an alternative to private health insurance plans (29% strongly, 26% somewhat)
There is absolutely no reason to delay on passing health care reform. It is still as popular today as it was the day the the American people overwhelmingly elected a Democratic majority to do just that. No matter what the purveyors of conventional wisdom say, no matter what the freaks and loons say, no matter what the Republicans say, we need a bill on the president's desk and we need it now.