Proving that young people are the solution to, well, just about everything, there’s an important nugget of information buried in the much-discussed New York Times/CBS News health care poll released Saturday. The poll found 72 percent of respondents supported a public plan, but also a striking generational gap in attitudes about universal health care. Americans under 45 were considerably more confident about a public option: only 28 percent were “very” concerned that access to treatment would be limited, compared to 40 percent of people 65 and over. Only 21 percent of younger people were concerned they’d be required to change doctors, versus 52 percent of senior citizens. It’s safe to assume we can expect even more confidence in "Big Government" from those born since 1980. A
Pew study
on political attitudes found Americans 18 to 29 are noticeably less skeptical of government running things (43 percent) than their elders are (64 to 73 percent). What does it all mean for the current health-care debate? Young people could be an important voice of advocacy and grassroots activism for the plan that eventually emerges from Congress, just as they were for Obama during the campaign. Then again, most colleges -- the foundation of Obama’s youth organizing -- aren’t back in session until late August, at which point it may be irrelevant. --Christopher Sopher
