Terence Samuel on the fight for the public option:
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid grew up 50 miles outside the gaming capital of the world and sparred as an amateur boxer during his teen years. Perhaps this upbringing explains the Nevada politician’s urge to take up the risky fight for a public option in the health-care reform bill that will soon come to the Senate floor. In some ways, Reid’s willingness to play hardball is a new development for timid, risk-averse Senate Democrats, who have been caught playing defense on an issue that they should own.
Meanwhile, House Democrats unveiled their own bill on Thursday, which includes a public health-insurance option that allows states to opt out and generally matches Reid’s promised legislation. What comes next is a new round of attacks from opponents about how “ObamaCare” will ruin the American way of life. That strategy hasn’t worked yet, and it’s unlikely to succeed at this late stage — more and more Americans support the idea of a public option, and they’re increasingly aware that its existence may not affect them at all.
