Sorry, Mr. President, Nobody Likes Change

If you listen to pandering politicians or ranting radio hosts, you’d think Americans want big, far-reaching change right away. They might disagree on what change, but nobody likes the way things are. Well, you’d be wrong, writes Michael Kinsley for the Washington Post. As the health care debate so vividly demonstrates, once change becomes a concrete possibility, Americans panic.

“Voters are immature,” argues Kinsley. Republicans took down the Clinton health care initiative when Bill Kristol argued that it was better to be against all change than tarred for backing a particular change. Amazingly, he was right politically. Reform died, Republicans rose, and millions went uninsured. Voters have dutifully voted for change again—and now are dutifully flipping out again. “Sure we want change—as long as everything can stay just as it is.”
(More health care reform stories.)