Gerald Seib ponders whether lawmakers face a bigger risk from passing a scary, unpopular health-care bill or from doing nothing. He observes:

That’s clear from a new Gallup survey that tries to test the political trade-offs. Gallup found that a hefty 64% of Americans say that their representative’s position on health care will be a major factor in their vote in next year’s congressional elections.

The key finding, though, is that the importance of health care is higher for those who oppose passing a bill than for those who favor it. Among those against passing a health overhaul, 82% said their representative’s position on the subject will be a major factor in next year’s election. Among those who favor passing a bill, 62% said their representative’s position will be a major factor. That suggests that more voters are ready to punish lawmakers for supporting change than are prepared to reward them for doing so.

But there is plenty of conventional-wisdom spinners out there to tell you that voters will rise up in fury if they don’t get health-care reform. (This will occur, we are told, even while polls show that most voters personally like their own insurance.)

However, this is actually one of those “false choices” the president keeps telling us about. The choices aren’t limited to ObamaCare and nothing. Rip it up. Start over. Pass simple, concrete measures like limits on pre-existing-condition exclusions and declare “victory.” Only in the imagination of The One do all problems need to be solved by him and solved now. Something that isn’t scary, isn’t too expensive, and isn’t likely to incur much conservative opposition may be just what’s needed to save everyone’s political skin.