NPR has an interesting new poll out today. They ask Americans who they think Congress is paying most attention to during this health care reform effort. By a wide margin, Americans think their concerns are being given short shrift in deference to interested parties on the corporate side. Seventy-one percent of Americans think members of Congress are paying too little attention to people like themselves.

On the flip side, only 35% of Americans think Congress is paying too little attention health care interest groups (31% think Congress is paying too much attention to those groups; another 19% said the amount of attention paid to this sector was about right).

This poll should be a wake up call the Democrats in Congress. The vast majority of Americans don’t feel they are being listened to in this health care debate. It would be hard to argue that the American people are wrong about who they think has the ears of the members of Congress. The fact that the extremely popular idea of a public option is not guaranteed to be part of reform is a perfect example of this disconnect. If Democrats pass a bill that regular people think was written by and for health industry lobbyists, it could spell trouble in the 2010 elections.