Big majority backs public option

The poll also asked a series of questions about the healthcare
bill, and Americans responded that the bill would make their lives better in various
ways, saying so by around 20 percent, rounded off, each time.

In short, the percentage of respondents who favor the public
option is more than three times larger than the percentage that believes the bill
would substantially improve their healthcare situation. The percentage of Republicans
who support the public option is higher than the percentage of the nation as a whole,
on four key questions, that believes the bill will make healthcare better.

For Democratic leaders and members of the House or Senate to
eliminate or destroy the public option, which has such huge support, on a bill that
has such modest support, would be an act of supreme policy and political stupidity.