Thomas Daschle: “I have been asked in recent days about polls published in a number of newspapers showing some slippage in the support…”

“I have been asked in recent days about polls published in a number of newspapers showing some slippage in the support for the health plan proposed by this administration. My answer to the queries that I have had is, I am not really surprised. After an orchestrated campaign, the cost of which has been more than $10 million, by many opponents of health reform, especially those outside of Washington--the insurance industry, lobbyists, and others--I am not surprised. The American people are confused with the tremendous amount of misinformation that has characterized so much of the debate so far. There has been an orchestrated effort to mislead the people and I think, to a certain extent, as it pertains to the Clinton health plan, they have succeeded. But I am also convinced that these poll numbers are temporary. What is permanent is a desire on the part of the American people to solve the health care crisis. Because, in spite of the ups and downs of polls relating directly to this plan, 86 percent of the American people, in virtually every poll from the very beginning, want guaranteed private health insurance for all Americans.”