Via Yglesias and Atrios comes a CBS/NYT poll showing that preferences for government-run health care have vastly increased over the past 30 or so years.
I'm skeptical of how much it's worth reading into this poll in terms of one specific version of health care reform versus another. I've seen results like these evaporate when tax dollars come into play, or when Betsy McCaughey starts getting time on CNN, or when people start worrying about losing the health coverage their employers give them now. But it is, I think, further evidence that the Eric Cantor/Newt Gingrich understanding of the moment is decisively wrong. 1979, like 1993, was a year teetering on the cusp of ferocious conservative revival. And, as you might expect amidst that sort of ideological ferment, private enterprise was broadly trusted and government action enjoyed little support. But 2009 is not such a year. Private enterprise is broadly mistrusted while aggressive government action is seen as the only plausible answer to an array of woes ranging from an economic collapse to a broken health care system. Conservatives acting under the impression that, like in 1993, the country is aching for them to block government action are misreading the mood rather profoundly.
I'm skeptical of how much it's worth reading into this poll in terms of one specific version of health care reform versus another. I've seen results like these evaporate when tax dollars come into play, or when Betsy McCaughey starts getting time on CNN, or when people start worrying about losing the health coverage their employers give them now. But it is, I think, further evidence that the Eric Cantor/Newt Gingrich understanding of the moment is decisively wrong. 1979, like 1993, was a year teetering on the cusp of ferocious conservative revival. And, as you might expect amidst that sort of ideological ferment, private enterprise was broadly trusted and government action enjoyed little support. But 2009 is not such a year. Private enterprise is broadly mistrusted while aggressive government action is seen as the only plausible answer to an array of woes ranging from an economic collapse to a broken health care system. Conservatives acting under the impression that, like in 1993, the country is aching for them to block government action are misreading the mood rather profoundly. 
