different information OR naivete vs. cynicism toward government?

Fascinating! It's difficult to imagine these differences as partisanship. More likely, there is different information or imaginations about what the Democratic proposals would cause.

Here's a summary of a report from IU's Center for Health Policy and Professionalism Research and its Center for Bioethics (hat tip: IPR)...

Do Americans believe controversial assertions about health care reform including death panels, threats to Medicare, abortions, illegal immigrants and other claims which the White House administrators have labeled as untrue "myths?...Americans do believe the "myths" about health care reform, confirming that the White House may indeed be losing this battle.

Who and what types of services will be covered if the proposed reforms are passed:
• 67 percent of Americans believe that wait times for health care services (such as surgery) will increase (91 percent of Republicans, 37 percent of Democrats, 72 percent of Independents).
• Roughly six out of 10 Americans believe that taxpayers will be required to pay for abortions (78 percent of Republicans, 30 percent of Democrats, 58 percent of Independents).
• 46 percent believe that reforms will result in health care coverage for all illegal immigrants (66 percent of Republicans, 29 percent of Democrats, 43 percent of Independents).

Level of government involvement with health care if the proposed reforms pass:
• Five out 10 believe the federal government will become directly involved in making personal health care decisions (80 percent of Republicans, 25 percent of Democrats, 56 percent of Independents).
• However only three out of 10 Americans believe that the government will require the elderly to make decisions about how and when they will die (53 percent of Republicans, 14 percent of Democrats, 31 percent of Independents) -- a topic that has received a considerable amount of media attention.
• Only 29 percent of respondents believe that private insurance coverage would be eliminated (44 percent of Republicans, 11 percent of Democrats, 33 percent of Independents)
• Only 33 percent believed that reforms would result in the elimination of employer-sponsored health insurance coverage (56 percent of Republicans, 14 percent of Democrats, 31 percent of Independents).
• Additionally, only 36 percent of Americans believe that a public insurance option will put private insurance companies out of business (56 percent of Republicans, 18 percent of Democrats, 35 percent of Independents).

Costs of the proposed reforms and how the reforms will be paid for:
• Almost six out of 10 Americans believe that a public insurance option as proposed would be too expensive for the United States to afford (84 percent of Republicans, 27 percent of Democrats, 58 percent of Independents).
• 51 percent believe that the public insurance option will increase health care costs (79 percent of Republicans, 21 percent of Democrats, 53 percent of Independents), and 54 percent believe that the public option will increase premiums for Americans with private health insurance (78 percent of Republicans, 28 percent of Democrats, 58 percent of Independents).
• Five out of 10 Americans think that cuts will be made to Medicare in order to cover more Americans (66 percent of Republicans, 37 percent of Democrats, 44 percent of Independents)....

A full report on the survey can be found at: http://chppr.iupui.edu/research/healthreformmyths.html