Not concrete = Not important

This makes me so sad.

"For a lot of people who have health insurance, they are paying more for health care, but it may not show up as concretely as paying $70 to fill their gas tank," said Anna Greenberg, a Democratic pollster.

Gas, people? Really? That's your top concern? Somehow, I think it's highly unlikely our next president is going to do anything about gas prices. Buy a Prius and get. over. it.

From the Democratic camp:

Obama's spokesman, Bill Burton, said the problem is the press, not the campaign.

"The issue of health care may be getting less attention than it deserves from the media, but it's still a top concern for voters and among the top issues that Sen. Obama talks about on the campaign trail," said Burton.

That better be true, Obama. I still don't like you, I'm still not voting for you, but you better keep it as a "top concern."

Best quotes:

On why gas is more in people's minds than health care: "If people had to pass that many signs that announced how much health care costs, you can bet it would be at the top of the agenda," said Matt Bennett, a founder of Third Way, a Democratic think tank, and former adviser to Vice President Al Gore.

And of course Drew Altman: "Beneath all that, when you probe, when you ask people what's bothering you about the economy right now, in economic downturns — problems paying for health care and health insurance really loom large," Altman said. "After people's fixations paying for gas prices, problems paying for health care are right at the top with job issues."

[Of course, if I was the head of a huge non-profit dedicated to health care, I might think that health care was a big issue, too.]