as matthew yglesias notes "we've reached a point where the term 'socialized medicine' actually polls well."
i'm guessing it's the strange byproduct of conservatives labeling virtually every health reform proposal "socialized medicine". the american public has long been in favor of changing our health care system, with conservatives calling every alternative labeled "socialized medicine," eventually the pro-alternative public won't think those words sound all that bad.
it also raises a phenomenon i've noticed in arguing with conservatives about health care reform online, both here and elsewhere. a lot of conservatives don't seem to know what "socialized medicine" actually means, or how those words differ in meaning from other terms like "single payer" or "universal healthcare." it seems that they've paid no attention at all to the details of various health care reform strategies. by dismissing everything "socialized medicine", they've made themselves ignorant about a lot of the issues in the health care reform debate.
