Liberals howled when the White House signaled willingness to give up the government-run public-option health plan in its insurance reform package. “Without a public plan, it’s almost worse than not doing anything,” came Rep. Anthony Weiner’s response. The New York Democrat was just one among many to promise he would oppose any bill that lacked a public- option plan.

As the White House has furiously backpedalled in response to such protests, several commentators have asserted that President Obama must give up the public option if he wants a bill to pass Congress. But Obama’s predicament appears to be worse than that. Rasmussen Reports found last week that a minority of 42 percent of Americans supported Obamacare. But this week’s poll shows that, if the public option is removed from his plan, support actuallydecreasesto 34 percent, due to waning Democratic enthusiasm.Weiner and many other prominent liberals openly hope that a public option will lead ultimately to a single-payer health care system – “Medicare for all,” as Weiner put it. Without that, what’s the point for liberals?