In my survey, the numbers for and against the public option are about 80%-20%. Overwhelming support, to be sure, but upper-middle class students are hugely over-represented.
That being said, in the open-ended "Why or why not?" section (which you may choose to answer or not) I'm seeing only about 1 in 20 comments about why the public option is a bad idea. Since the rates of the follow-up question are pretty skewed, I've got to assume there's a strong emotional response to the public option; basically, unless you know what it is and are thoroughly convinced that it would be a good idea, the default decision seems to oppose it. Some comments even seem to express that sentiment: "I don't think I'm well informed enough to pick, so I can't support it."
That's fine, but unless you have a strong emotional affinity for the private ensurers, it's an interesting default to have.
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Actually it makes a lot of sense, because if you're totally unaware of the situation, why would you want to change the status quo?
ReplyDeleteYou would obviously feel like at the moment you're unaffected by it, because otherwise you'd seek out information, and since you aren't affected, why risk doing something that could change things?