Here's What the American People Want

(March 10) -- One of the most abused phrases in politics has been getting quite a workout lately.

"The American people want to see Washington put aside partisan differences and make progress on jobs." -- President Barack Obama, Feb. 22

"The American people want us to scrap this bill." -- House Minority Leader John Boehner, R-Ohio, on Obama's health care reform legislation, Feb. 25

"That is what senators say they want, and that is what the American people want." -- Sen. Jim Bunning, R-Ky., on blocking extension of unemployment benefits because it wasn't paid for, March 3

It's right up there with "simple up-or-down vote," "the generals on the ground" and "resigning to spend more time with my family." And seldom has the phrase "the American people want" been repeated as frequently as during the current debate over health care reform.

If there was a "the American people want" drinking game, those playing it while watching last month's health care summit Feb. 25 -- and who could blame them? -- would have passed out under the table long before the TV talkathon ended.

What do the American people want when it comes to health care? Let's review.

"We know the American people want us to reform our health insurance system," said Obama in his weekly address Feb. 20.

"By an overwhelming margin, the American people want Congress to abandon the Senate and House bills that will bankrupt our country, fund abortion and ration care and instead start over," countered Sen. Tom Coburn, R-Okla., last week.

"I believe that the president will keep fighting and that the American people want to have this kind of health reform," Nancy-Ann DeParle, director of the White House Office of Health Reform, declared on NBC's "Meet the Press" Feb. 28.

"Overwhelmingly, the American people, depending on which poll you look at, but overwhelmingly, American people are saying stop and start over. ... That's what the American people want us to do," argued Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., on the same program.

Last week, Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., urged the Senate to include his House-passed ban on abortion funding in its own bill, saying, "This certainly is one amendment where you can show your flexibility and actually do what the American people want: no public funding for abortion."

Notice that what the American people want is invariably the same as what the person using the phrase wants. (You will never hear a politician say these words: "The American people want this bill that I am dead set against!")

Vice President Joe Biden was the only one at last month's summit to express any uncertainty about knowing what people want. "I'm always reluctant after being here 37 years to tell people what the American people think," Biden said. "I know what I think. I think I know what they think, but I'm not sure what they think."

To which Rep. Paul Ryan, R-Wis., responded, "You're not listening to the American people."

Those would be the American people who want health care reform, don't want health care reform, want Obama's plan passed, or not, or only with no money for abortions, or want to start the whole process over again. Depending on who is channeling the desires of the nation.

In the words of noted political scientist Jerry Seinfeld, "Who ARE these people?"

Saying "the American people want ... " is a rhetorical device that gives the impression practically everyone in the country agrees on something. Yet every poll shows American public opinion is far from unanimous on just about every major issue -- especially health care.

A new Gallup survey puts support for Obama's plan at 45 percent and opposition at 48 percent. (Amazingly -- after months of debate -- 7 percent of those polled still have no opinion.) The Washington Post's Ezra Klein noted that Gallup asked those who disapproved of the bill why they felt that way. While concern about higher costs was the top reason, respondents gave many others. And some of those reasons just don't hold water, according to Politics Daily's Jill Lawrence.

Pollsters Scott Rasmussen and Doug Schoen point out in The Wall Street Journal that opposition to Obama on health care has been stuck between 52 and 58 percent -- with support holding steady between 38 and 44 percent -- for the past four months.

The Economist's survey (click here for PDF) shows 53 percent of Americans either somewhat or strongly favor reform, while 47 oppose it. The latest Real Clear Politics average of polls puts support at 41 percent and opposition at 49 percent.

In this era of 50-percent-plus-one politics, people will seize on whatever poll gives them the edge and cite it as proof of what the American people want. This ignores the fact that in every poll, a considerable percentage of people say they want the opposite.

How can our elected officials cut through the verbiage and discover the true will of the American people?

Karl Rove may have unwittingly provided an answer in his new memoir, "Courage and Consequence." President George W. Bush's political guru recalled his run-in with Sheryl Crow at the 2007 White House Correspondents' Dinner. At the end of an argument over global warming, the rock star told Rove, "You work for me!" and he replied that he worked for the American people. "I am the American people," Crow shot back.

If only official Washington had remembered this. Lawmakers could just put Crow on speed dial and be able to determine right away what the American people want done on any issue.

No single American speaks for all of the nation's people. Maybe someday a national poll will include this question: Do the American people want their leaders to stop putting words in the mouths of the American people?