Stop Me Before I Vote Again

Fun stuff from the nice folks at Angus Reid today.

I. Thinking the unthinkable

http://www.angus-reid.com/polls/index.cfm/fuseaction/viewItem/itemID/14838

Adults in the United States are divided on who should certify medical insurance coverage, according to a poll by Zogby Interactive. 35 per cent of respondents think the issue is the primary purview of the federal government, 31 per cent leave it up to each individual, and 15 per cent believe employers should be responsible.

Looks like Andy Stern has his work cut out for him. More interestingly, the utterly unthinkable single-payer option commands the support of a plurality of the public, even though nobody of consequence is propagandizing for it, and our leaders almost unanimously deplore it as rank Bolshevism.

II. The sorrows of Brand X

http://www.angus-reid.com/polls/index.cfm/fuseaction/viewItem/itemID/14842

Republican Rudy Giuliani holds an advantage over three prospective Democratic presidential nominees in the United States, according to a poll by the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute. 48 per cent of respondents would vote for the former New York City mayor in 2008, while 43 per cent would support New York senator Hillary Rodham Clinton.

Giuliani holds a seven-point edge over Illinois senator Barack Obama, and an eight-point advantage over former North Carolina senator John Edwards.

Okay, I'm probably reading too much into this. In the case of Obama and Whatsisname from South Bumfuck, nonrecognition probably plays a role. But it's gotta mean something that Giuliani, who has been off the radar for years and has the fatal tin can of New York City tied to his tail, is doing better than the gorgon Hillary, who has four-walled herself from coast to coast, accumulated a money bin that makes Scrooge McDuck look like trailer trash, and re-tooled her image with every twitch of the applause-meter.

III. Les douleurs du Brand X, a la Francaise

http://www.angus-reid.com/polls/index.cfm/fuseaction/viewItem/itemID/14840

Hillary's poor showing is mirrored -- on a much more stylish and elegant plane, of course -- by the sleek Segolene Royal, a supposed Socialist somewhat in the Bernie Sanders mode, though nicer-looking:

Nicolas Sarkozy holds a larger lead in France’s presidential race, according to a poll by Ipsos published in Le Point. 33 per cent of respondents would vote for the Union for a Popular Movement (UMP) contender in this year’s election. Ségolène Royal of the Socialist Party (PS) is second with 23 per cent, followed by Union for French Democracy (UDF) leader François Bayrou with 16 per cent, and Jean-Marie Le Pen of the National Front (FN) with 13 per cent....In a prospective run-off scenario, Sarkozy holds an eight-point advantage over Royal.