In spite of Congress chatting up their districts about the virtues of government-run healthcare, support continues to fall off--down five more points from two weeks ago. 42% in favor, nearly all of them Democrats.

...44% of voters strongly oppose the health care reform effort versus 26% who strongly favor it. Intensity has been stronger among opponents of the plan since the debate began.

Sixty-seven percent (67%) of those under 30 favor the plan while 56% of those over 65 are opposed. Among senior citizens, 46% are strongly opposed.

Predictably, 69% of Democrats favor the plan, while 79% of Republicans oppose it. Yet while 44% of Democratic voters strongly favor the reform effort, 70% of GOP voters are strongly opposed to it.
Most notable, however, is the opposition among voters not affiliated with either party. Sixty-two percent (62%) of unaffiliated voters oppose the health care plan, and 51% are strongly opposed. This marks an uptick in strong opposition among both Republicans and unaffiliateds, while the number of strongly supportive Democrats is unchanged.

The administration is said to be "revamping" their sales strategy because they find themselves on the defensive. Its basically an admission that they are toast. In spite of relentless state media propaganda, healthcare is proving to be a divider rather than a unifier. There is literally nothing that can be said on the issue to change minds because it breaks down along a much more fundamental question--government control of the economy vs. free enterprise.

Democrats are faced with an interesting decision. The health-care debate has all the earmarks of an election-deciding wedge issue in the same class as guns and abortion. The Democrat's vision of bureaucrat-run health-care is fundamentally repulsive to the nation's libertarian instincts and the high-value it places on free-enterprise. On the other hand, their core constituency is best reflected by the woman who ecstatically proclaimed that Obama's election would bring her into the promised land of government-paid mortgages and free gas.

You can't win and keep power with just that minority. Republican voters are predictably opposed, but more critical is the disaffection of independent voters. As the tea parties and townhalls hit the newpapers and local television coverage, the support for Obamacare is likely to continue to decline into the low 30% range.

Ultimately, the question becomes whether Democrats actually believe that they can do health-care better than the current system or whether they are just cynically manipulating their thralls to redraw the political issues map. The true believers will vote to ram through the legislation on the basis that after paradise is declared by fiat, everyone will see the light and vote Democrats until their dying day. The pragmatic power-seekers will elect to fight another day. Who really holds sway in the Democrat caucus?