The Wages of Being Spun: Yesterday, Atlantic 's Marc Ambinder told us how the loud town hall protests against Obama's health care plans were discrediting and damaging the Republican position, especially among independents .

Today, a USA Today/Gallup poll delivers what seems like swift and brutal punishment to desperate Rahmesque spin Ambinder's analysis:

WASHINGTON - The raucous protests at congressional town hall meetings have succeeded in fueling opposition to proposed health care bills among some Americans, a USA TODAY/Gallup Poll finds - particularly the independents who tend to be at the center of political debates.

In a survey of 1,000 adults taken Tuesday, 34% say the sometimes heated protests at sessions held by members of Congress have made them more sympathetic to the protesters' views; 21% say they are less sympathetic.

Independents by 2-1, 35%-16%, say they are more sympathetic to the protesters now. ...

Dreidel , dreidel, dreidel. ... [ Thanks to alert reader M ] 

Update: Gallup's fuller results here. ... The real test is whether support of the reform goes up or down after the town halls, not what people say they think of the protesters or their views. Still, it's hard to look at this poll and conclude that support will go up, or that opponents have been "discredited." ... 3:52 P.M.

___________________________