Advocates for a public health insurance option available to all Americans have been peppering U.S. Sen. Chuck Grassley with comments at his public events for months. Sometimes he deals with the questions well, but for a guy like Grassley who is known for his verbal shots from the hip, a slip-up was inevitable.

Last week in Waukon, Grassley slipped up. Asked by a voter why he can’t receive the same health care as Grassley himself does as a federal employee, Grassley’s response was, “Go work for the federal government.”

The Service Employees International Union had a tracker there, and they posted the video later:

Grassley has emerged as the key Republican senator negotiating health care reform because of his position as Ranking Member on the Senate Finance Committee, and that has made him a focus of national health care groups hoping to pressure him into supporting a public option.

A Des Moines Register poll earlier this year showed that a majority of Iowans support a public health insurance option, though most consider Grassley a sure bet for reelection in 2010 no matter how he votes.