[Posted by Karl]

A new poll commissioned by Health Care for America Now — the leftist Borg astroturfing government-controlled healthcare — delivers still more bad news for Democrats.

The HCAN poll shows that the individual mandate is opposed in swing House districts by 60 to 34 percent. (FWIW, a recent Zogby poll had opposition to the mandate closer to 70 percent in swing districts.)

However, in a shocking coincidence with HCAN’s agenda, “[r]equiring everyone to buy and be covered by a health insurance plan with a choice between a public option and private insurance plan” is supported in swing districts by 50 to 46 percent.

The poll shows that nationally, opposition to the mandate is greater — and the supposed support for the combo is also greater. The supposed support for the combo is actually worse and more polarized in swing districts than nationally.

Moreover, as the HuffPo’s Sam Stein admits, “the polling that the group sponsors should be taken with a grain of salt. Other pollsters, in particular, have criticized the use of the word ‘choice’ in questions about the public plan.” Stein avoids expressly reminding his readers that taking the word “choice” out of polling on the proposed government-run plan causes support for the so-called “public option” to plummet into the forties. Stein has written about this, making the omission all the more glaring.

Prior polls show that people are unwilling to pay less than $10 weekly to have a public option. Support also craters when people are reminded that the government-run plan is a Trojan horse for single-payer, Canadian-style healthcare.

The White House and lefties like Rep. Dennis Kucinich believe the “public option” is dead. Indeed, Kucinich thinks the Blue Dogs are doing the White House’s bidding on the “public option.” Inch-deep support and intense lobbying against it would seem to be fatal.

In sum, when Mickey Kaus asks whether voting for ObamaCare might be suicidal for Democrats, he is asking the right question. When even HCAN is delivering bad news dressed up as good propaganda, the answer becomes even clearer.

–Karl