Policy wonks like mandates

Jonathan Cohn of the New Republic blogs that he doesn't understand the reaction to mandates from progressives: "I confess I've been a bit taken aback at the hostility it generates even from the left (which, perhaps, Obama anticipated).... the main complaint about mandates is that people are being forced to buy private insurance. But Clinton and Edwards both make a public plan available to anybody who wants it. Not only does open the door to a full-single payer plan down the road, it also guarantees that anybody who doesn't trust private insurance can get into a better option."