I was struck by this conclusion in today's
Los Angeles Times regarding their recent
voter survey:
"In one of the most politically significant results, the poll finds that independents and moderates were generally lining up with Democrats in the healthcare debate.
"The survey also suggested an explanation for the emerging alignment: Independents were most likely to complain about "job lock" -- the view that they are stuck in jobs they don't like solely because of health benefits.
"In all, 20% of independents said they or someone in their household were forced to stay in a job because it provided healthcare, compared with 13% of Democrats and 5% of Republicans.
"Independents are more insecure in terms of the issue of 'job lock,' which causes them to lean more toward Democrats on the healthcare issue than Republicans, said Robert Blendon, a public opinion expert at the Harvard School of Public Health."
As I have said in earlier posts regarding the
Republicans' health reform proposals, their positions may look good in the primaries where they must please only
conservative Republican voters, but they risk losing the middle of the country if they don't get a lot more serious about
health care reform.