NEWS FLASH: Power Line has debunked NYT health care poll!!

Y'know, the one from Sunday which showed an astounding 85 percent of Americans support health care reform, 72 percent want a government-run system, and a solid majority said they'd be willing to pay more taxes to make the reform a reality.

Y'know, that one.

Fear not conservatives, Power Line is so on it. Turns out the Times polled too many Democrats and according to Power Line the poll “skewed left.” And since the Times poll didn't ask enough Republicans their opinion, or actually, since the Times didn't ask the right Republicans their opinion, the survey results are invalid. It's a “bad pool.”

Phew! Close call.

Slight problem, though. Power Line's knee-jerk conclusion was that if the Times had polled more Republicans, or the 'right' Republicans, than the health care results would have been different because, as Power Line seemed to suggest, everybody knows Republicans oppose government-run health care.

Except, apparently, Republicans who live in the United States. According to the Times survey, 50 percent of Republicans favor government-run health care. So why would it matter if Times pollsters had contacted more of them?

FYI, the Times sampling in terms of party affiliation was in line with years' worth of previous polls. So how did Power Line prove that the survey skewed left? From this single question and response:

See, Obama didn't beat McCain 48 percent to 25 percent last November, which proves the poll “skewed left.” Of course, a more logical take-away from that specific Q&A would be that not that many Republicans want to admit to voting for McCain. But that's not what the detectives at Power Line deduced. They announced that single question meant the entire poll was invalid.

I'm sure Power Line readers are relieved.

(h/t Suburban Guerrilla)