We will never know how Jazz would respond to the mere suggestion of healthcare reform.

I can say so I'll leave to your beliefs. November 2008 in IOWA, eh? Boy howdy you got me with that one.

Let's look at the actual results and polling in November 2008 for Iowa, that state you think Rasmussen so sucked at. Hmmm. Seems Rasmussen called it at 8% for Obama a week before the election and noted a rising trend in his favor, and the final results were (insert drum roll) Obama 54.0% versus McCain 44.7%, for a final of 9.3% Obama, a 1.3% undermargin for Rasmussen but reflective of their claim of a slight upward Obama trend. Marist, also a week out, was first in accuracy for Iowa at 10% or 0.7% off. Third was Mason-Dixon, also a week out, with 11% or 1.7% off. ALL other Iowa pollsters in the final week or closer were off at least 4.7%.

Tully wrote: “Heh. Rasmussen consistently scores up at the top of pollsters for accuracy.”

Consistently, eh? Tully, your link only say that Rasmussen was third in polls regarding “Democratic contests in North Carolina, Indiana, West Virgina, Kentucky and Oregon.” in May, 2008. That hardly fits most peoples definition of 'Consistent'.

Following are our updated pollster ratings, accounting for the Democratic contests in North Carolina, Indiana, West Virgina, Kentucky and Oregon.

But I'm sure you're gleefully thrilled at some pushback. It fits in with your cutesy “Tee hee! Both sides dislike me so I must be an Omniscient Moderate!” act.

What was that about the Party of No Ideas again, Jazz? This article seems to be perfectly fine with the no idea status quo. I mean, our Healthcare doesn't suck! It's great! And the insurance companies deserve every hard earned dollar they get denying coverage, the poor dears.

Heh. Rasmussen consistently scores up at the top of pollsters for accuracy. Not as good as SurveyUSA, but well above Mason/Dixon and Gallup and Zogby.

Or maybe we all know someone in that 1/3 of Democrats or 11% of Republicans who don't rate their health care as good or excellent. Maybe our sister's husband just lost his job, leaving both without insurance, and while we're very willing to lend the money to make sure they can afford the meds they need, we really think it would be better if that didn't have to be the case. Maybe we know that just because we ourselves have the priviledge and social status and job to have excellent or good health care, that doesn't automatically mean that everyone else does. Maybe we remember that close call a few months ago when our companies were laying off people and we were seriously considering just eloping with the fiancee earlier than planned just in case it came down on one of us. Maybe we can see ourselves in the position of those millions who do not have adequate health care, and it makes us fearful, knowing that especially in a job market like the current one, whether one has a job with benefits or not is more luck than at any other time in our livetimes.

You wish. The democrat learned their lesson from '94, will rightly impose reform on everybody (which will not be a problem for the already insured, who will sadly have to forgo wonderful freedoms such as the choice to have to pay 22000 dollars for having a baby) and then when the new system won't destroy the world and doom all of humanity to eternal torment, it will be accepted and will be useless as a political bludgeon for the GOP, just like Medicare (which was described as the end of freedom by that other politician who was great at making the poor feel empowered while he enacted policies that hurt them – Reagan).

“measured consideration by all factions of Congress can probably come up with something good.”

Yeah, let's wait until 2011, I'm sure that Grassley will no longer be a complete idiot by then, and I am sure that we won't have slogan-spouting left-haters pretending to be informed citizens or anti-reform propaganda trying to spread completely made-up rumors about reform: http://blogs.tnr.com/tnr/blogs/the_treatment/ar…

No dice. No reform is bad for the DNC and all Americans, any reform will have more than a good chance at being a boon for all. You keep on trying to pretend that the manufactured and misguided distress over reform will be a problem for democrats after it is voted through, but it won't. The reality of reform will not match the shibboleth, and once reform has gone through only the anti-Obama crowd will continue caring and whining.