WaPo Poll: Majority Wants Public Option More Than Bipartisanship ...

by Greg Sargent

Okay, this is important: The new Washington Post poll finally asks people about their cravings for bipartisanship in the right way , and its finding really challenges the conventional wisdom that people want bipartisan health care compromise at all costs.

Specifically: A majority wants a Dem-only bill rather than a bipartisan one if the Dem-only one includes a public insurance option and the bipartisan one doesn’t. A majority of Independents wants the same. From the internals :

Which of these would you prefer –- (a plan that includes some form of government-sponsored health insurance for people who can’t get affordable private insurance, but is approved without support from Republicans in Congress); or

(a plan that is approved with support from Republicans in Congress, but does not include any form of government-sponsored health insurance for people who can’t get affordable private insurance)?

Prefer government-sponsored insurance: 51%

Prefer Republican support: 37%

I wonder if this poll has regional breakdowns. Does this poll register where the support and opposition is coming from, since the Democratic public option opponents, or those who haven’t committed pro or con, are in more conservative areas of the country/former Republican-controlled areas? My guess is that it’s national and not broken down into regions, but I’m curious to see where the support and opposition really lies or if public option opponents are representing their constituents or just expressing their own opinions.

Greg,

Do any reputable polling firms just take a poll on the support for a Public Option without conflating it with a nebulous Bipartisan support connection.

Could you make some inquiries of the polling firms on why they just do not poll on the Public Option support. We already know that most people wish for rainbows, sea shells balloons(without child stowaways) and bipartisanship, but can we ask the pollsters why they just don’t stick to reality, when polling.

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