Boehner hasn't met "anyone" who backs public option

House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio) has just more or less dared proponents of a public option to bombard his office with their expressions of support of the plan.

Boehner claimed, with a semi-straight face, that he has yet to meet a regular "American" who favors the option -- despite polls showing that a majority of voters support to the idea of having the choice of a government plan.

"I'm still trying to find the first American to talk to who's in favor of the public option, other than a member of Congress or the administration" said Boehner, whose sole recent foray into a public discussion of health care reform was a tea-party-style event in Ohio a few weeks back.

"I've not talked to one and I get to a lot of places," he told reporters at his weekly press availability. "I've not had anyone come up to me -- I know I'm inviting them -- and lobby for the public option .

"This is about as unpopular as a garlic milkshake."

I then asked him: "Isn't a garlic milkshake healthy?" to which he replied, "I don't know I haven't tried it."

The polls are actually pretty divided on the issue, with a SurveyUSA poll showing three-quarters of Americans backing a public option choice. But that number dropped to 43 percent when the option was portrayed as a mandatory component of the plan in an NBC/WSJ survey.