With the Democrats claiming merging of their versions of the health reform bill by the end of next week in anticipation of a mid-October vote on reform legislation, it’s really not hard to escape the feeling that — although the nation seems evenly split on the issue of a public option as part of reform — many Americans appear to be more confused than ever over what is true and what isn’t anymore. For example: advertising on the healthcare debate, more than $100 million of it spent so far, is offering little understanding on the issue as the dueling sides and media look to dispel myths about what’s true and what’s not. Can you believe that almost $100 million has been spent in 2009 on commercials intended to influence the health care debate ($30M in August alone, when a vote seemed imminent)?

Even so, the picture is murkier when the traditional mainstream media support so-called health care “experts” who really can’t agree on the overarching meaning of this pending legislation. But does all of this uncertainty really matter? The only thing that does is that all of this coverage makes for great drama. It really makes one wonder if there are going to be debate watching parties in newsrooms (as well as local pubs) on the cusp of the vote. Celebrants may not agree on the specifics of the bill during its historic debate, but they sure will have a good time cheering on their like-minded political heroes. Call it the 2009 Health Reform Super Bowl. | LINK

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