Hope springs eternal

My mom and I recently exchanged views on Facebook regarding Obama's health-care speech. First my mom:

Obama's address was a home run, as far as I'm concerned. He will be the last president to deal with this issue. I believe him, I believe in him and what he favors, and I trust him. We are so lucky to have him as president. People need to remember the last 8 years and look forward.

Then me:

From your mouth to God's ears. I really hope he'll be the last one to address it, but I imagine in the future we'll need to fine-tune whatever passes this year. I'm beginning to wonder whether "the American people," that amorphous body, will ever stand for a plan like what European countries and Canada have. The fear of socialism is so ingrained here. When they poll Americans, a majority want reform, but they also don't want change, because it's scary. They want some magical plan whereby all the problems get fixed without anything really changing. If the Obama administration can make it illegal for insurance companies not to cover preexisting conditions, that will be big. Ditto removing the cap on lifetime coverage. I'll be grateful for whatever passes, knowing that Republicans (and, to be fair, many of their constituents) are very, very resistant to any real change. At least the Blue Dog Democrats were affected (positively) by last night's speech, according to NPR.

Her uncautious optimism inspires me, but I wonder how much of it is warranted. I guess we'll know soon enough.