As the Democratic primaries approach, the candidates are still going at it over issues that were raised during the debate last Thursday night (transcript). In watching the debate, I was struck by Hillary's focused, immediate response style of challenging misleading statements attaching her record and positions on these issues, and I think it's playing well with the electorate.
Hillary did an outstanding job at hitting back when the other candidates attacked her. In particular, Barack Obama tried to go after her on healthcare, and she reminded the viewers that his healthcare reform plan was not universal healthcare coverage, leaving some 15 million people without coverage. She immediately illustrated the size of the problem by noting that that number equaled roughly the populations of the first four states in next year’s primaries – Iowa, South Carolina. New Hampshire and Nevada. That's a lot of people... and her illustration points out the size of the problem to the voters in the early primary states.
The other candidates are still attacking her, and she’s still setting the record straight. Most recently, the issues seem to center around health care reform. Follow me...
Hillary's website has a section called FactHub.com, which has background on this question about the non-universality of Obama's health plan.
Sen. Obama Falsely Claims He Has 'Basically the Same' Health Care Plan as Hillary; Actually Leaves 15 Million Uninsured
11/19/2007 3:22:01 PM
"There is a fundamental difference between Senators Obama and Clinton on health care. Senator Clinton’s health care plan covers every single American. Senator Obama’s does not. Any health care plan that leaves 15 million Americans uninsured cannot be considered universal. And that is a very big difference." – Clinton Campaign Spokesman Mo Elleithee
Today, at a campaign event in Clarion, IA, Sen. Obama claimed there were no significant differences between his health care plan and Hillary's health care plan:
Here is the one thing I want to say about health care. I’ll be honest with you – my plan, John Edwards’ plan, Hillary Clinton’s plan – they are all basically the same plan. There really isn’t that much difference between them. |
Sen. Obama’s plan is not universal. Even he has admitted that:
During his speech, Sen. Obama said, "I will sign a universal health care plan into law by the end of my first term in office." But after his speech today, Obama told me his plan really isn't "universal." He said it's "virtually universal." His plan doesn't mandate coverage, except for children. |
CBS News looked into the matter and concluded that Sen. Obama's plan would leave about 15 million people uninsured.
The experts agree. Here's The New Republic’s Jonathan Cohn:
The best studies out there—by Urban Institute researchers, the RAND Corporation, and MIT economist Jonathan Gruber--suggest that, without a mandate, improving affordability will cover roughly one-third of the people who don't have coverage. Mandating that kids (but not adults) have coverage bumps that up to about a half. Obama's advisers think that, by really loading up on the subsidies—and making enrollment a lot easier by, for example, having an automatic enrollment with voluntary opt-out at your place of work--they can goose that up to two-thirds. But that's getting optimistic—and, even then, you still have around 15 million people who are uninsured. | |
John Edwards also tried to get into the act with a little fast talk about Hillary's health care plan, and FactHub.com has the real story:
Sen. Edwards Falsely Claims Hillary Didn't Support Universal Health Care 'Earlier This Year'
11/18/2007 11:02:10 AM
Today on CNN’s Late Edition, Sen. John Edwards asserted that Hillary "was not for" universal health care at the beginning of the campaign:
And I might add, Sen. Clinton was not for universal health care at the beginning of this year, at the beginning of the campaign. |
That's flatly false. Here's Hillary on January 22, 2007, the day after she announced her candidacy:
I remain committed to providing quality affordable health care for every American. |
The fact is, just 3 years ago, Sen. Edwards did not support a universal health care plan and criticized those who supported it as irresponsible.
|
The subject nearest and dearest to my heart, though, is mental health care. I did a diary on this two months ago, and you can check it out for the "latest", because non of the three major candidates have changed their announced positions. Mental health parity- the coverage of mental disorders on a par with physical disorders- is in one and only one of the three candidates' healthcare plans- Hillary's. If you or someone you love is in the 5% of the population that needs quality mental health care, Hillary's plan is the only one that will provide you with coverage without all the maximum benefits caps and other loopholes in existing mental health coverage.
As the campaign wears on, look for fast footwork and selective presentation of healthcare plans by the other candidates. That's all they have.