At the upcoming health-care summit, and in the days following, Republicans will be talking a lot about how the American public has rejected the Democrats' health-reform plan, and therefore we ought to toss it out and "start with a blank piece of paper," which in practice means abandoning health reform altogether. But has the public actually rejected the Democrats' plan? The answer is, yes and no. A Newsweek poll contains some interesting data. When they asked people whether they favored or opposed the Obama plan, 40 percent said they favored it, and 48 percent said they opposed it -- not great, but not a disaster for the Democrats.

As the administration's final push for health care begins, the knowing wags of Washington seem to have gained a sudden interest in offering insight into why reform failed -- even though it hasn't yet. Obama should have listened more to Rahm Emanuel and done small-bore health initiatives, says the Washington Post's Dana Milbank.