The basic problem is that people are not educated, sophisticated -- whatever term we choose, they don't possess enough of it to have any sort of nuanced underst

The basic problem is that people are not educated, sophisticated -- whatever term we choose, they don't possess enough of it to have any sort of nuanced understanding of an issue. Politicians simply noted that fact and use it to their advantage. You ask, "Do you think it's fair that people with preexisting conditions pay higher insurance premiums?", and I'll just ask, "Do you think it's fair that people should be forced to pay for the health care of others?" As long as I can ask the question to get the answer I want, polling is worthless for driving policy. What we'll end up with is the notion that Americans want free healthcare, free college, the best military, every veteran to have a $60k a year pension, and to save the planet, while they also want to pay no taxes and suffer no inconvenience to their daily lives. Good luck making that into policy.