Gloomy polls on healthcare are mostly near-term jitters and the result of demagoguery. Greg Sargent rewinds to the 1960s:
Dem leadership staff is highlighting a series of numbers from 1962 on President John F. Kennedy’s proposal. In July of that year, a Gallup poll found 28% in favor, 24% viewing it unfavorably, and a sizable 33% with no opinion on it — showing an evenly divided public.
A month later, after JFK’s proposal went down, an Opinion Research Corporation poll found 44 percent said it should have been passed, while 37% supported its defeat — also showing an evenly divided public.
Also in that poll, a majority, 54%, said it was a serious problem that “government medical insurance for the aged would be a big step toward socialized medicine.”
Call your representative in Congress and tell them to not panic.
(Also, sorry for the light blogging. I’m locked into the Los Angeles vortex.)
