Poll: popular support for "Obamacare"

New York Times and CBS News poll: "Americans on Health Care and Afghanistan" asks, "Would you favor or oppose the government offering everyone a government-administered health insurance plan like Medicare that would compete with private health insurance plans?"

Favor: 65%

Oppose: 26%

No Opinion: 9%

I've found that when I say, "President Obama's plan is like an opt-in Medicare for non-seniors," people think that it's a good idea. It's not forced on anyone; you can still shop around for a low-cost catastrophic plan on your own if you want; and maybe an invisible hand will magically make the health insurance companies offer lower-cost plans as well.

The biggest (and, interestingly, least frequent) concern I hear is how to pay for it over the long term. I've heard "cut waste in Medicare" and "preventative care now is cheaper than hospitalization later," which I swear I've heard somewhere before.