FALSE DICHOTOMY? A Power Line post parses a Rasmussen poll that attempts to classify citizens as mainstream or as political class. One observation seems to give polemicists something to work with.

America's Political Class is far less enamored with the virtues of a free market. In fact, Political Class voters narrowly prefer a government managed economy over free markets by a 44% to 37% margin.

Government management can mean Gosplan or targeted taxes and credits or subsidies (whether by a Brain Trust or by The Machine or by Act of Congress) or a central bank or provision of a system of property and contract rights. And one of the questions that supposedly allows Rasmussen to classify voters is really asking how much credence voters give to the Public Choice Hypothesis.

Some people believe that the federal government has become a special interest group that looks out primarily for its own interests. Has the federal government become a special interest group?

One might both answer that question in the affirmative and favor greater government involvement in commercial affairs, often precisely to prevent business from corrupting government.

Do government and big business often work together in ways that hurt consumers and investors?

Fighting Bob LaFollette and Hiram Johnson would understand.