An American consensus on healthcare?

Pew’s new political survey is out today and it’s chock full of interesting plot lines.

More bad news for Republicans: “the lowest level of professed affiliation with the GOP in at least a quarter century”.

More signs that the GOP has missed America’s demographic revolution: “Its constituents are aging and do not reflect the growing ethnic and racial diversity of the general public.”

On most issues, the survey finds that Americans are more divided ideologically than ever, with Democrats and Republicans far apart on most issues.

The one bit outlier her is health care, where we seem to have reached something like a bipartisan consensus.

Despite the partisan rancor, a stunning 86% of respondents believe that government needs to do more “to make health care affordable and accessible.”

A shocking 74% of Republicans share that view, along with 85% of Independents. (Dems are at 97%!)

By contrast, only 46% of Americans are concerned that government could overreach, “becoming too involved in health care.”

The health care debate will be fierce and bitter, with a lot of special interest money washing around buying media spots.

So those numbers are sure to change.

But the Pew baseline should be a wake-up call to insurance companies, hospital and doctor lobbies, and conservatives hoping to derail sweeping reform.