All Blog Posts from Horserace
Clinton's Health Care Push
Hillary Clinton appeared on the "Early Show" this morning to discuss her newly-unveiled health care plan.
"What I'm going to do is put forth a plan that is based on a very simple proposition: If you like what you have now, you keep it," said Clinton. "You keep your doctors, you keep the hospitals you like, nothing will change."
"But if you are one of the 47 million uninsured or if you think you can get a better policy at a cheaper rate that will do more for you and your family, we're going to give you a new health choices menu," she continued. "You'll be able to go into the same system that members of Congress use to get the kind of range of choices and quality that you should have in your health care."
Harry Smith brought up the price of Clinton's plan – saying it cost more than anyone else's – and mentioned that it depends on rolling back the Bush tax cuts, "sacred ground for Republicans." Clinton responded by invoking her husband's presidency:
"The economy did extremely well, as I think we all remember, in the 1990s, when the wealthiest of Americans did a pay a little bit more in income tax," she said. "And under the plan that I have, I will let the Bush tax cuts on the wealthiest of Americans expire. But actually, I only get half of what I put into this health care plan from letting those tax cut expire. The other half comes from savings in the system."
Click on the video box to watch the full interview.
"What I'm going to do is put forth a plan that is based on a very simple proposition: If you like what you have now, you keep it," said Clinton. "You keep your doctors, you keep the hospitals you like, nothing will change."
"But if you are one of the 47 million uninsured or if you think you can get a better policy at a cheaper rate that will do more for you and your family, we're going to give you a new health choices menu," she continued. "You'll be able to go into the same system that members of Congress use to get the kind of range of choices and quality that you should have in your health care."
Harry Smith brought up the price of Clinton's plan – saying it cost more than anyone else's – and mentioned that it depends on rolling back the Bush tax cuts, "sacred ground for Republicans." Clinton responded by invoking her husband's presidency:
"The economy did extremely well, as I think we all remember, in the 1990s, when the wealthiest of Americans did a pay a little bit more in income tax," she said. "And under the plan that I have, I will let the Bush tax cuts on the wealthiest of Americans expire. But actually, I only get half of what I put into this health care plan from letting those tax cut expire. The other half comes from savings in the system."
Click on the video box to watch the full interview.
Democrats Look For The Union Label
(CBS/AP)
Hillary Clinton, John Edwards, Barack Obama, Bill Richardson and Christopher Dodd each had a similar message for organized labor Monday: "Vote me into the White House, and I'll restore the power of the labor union."
The five Democratic presidential candidates each spoke for 30 to 45 minutes before an audience of nearly 2000 enthusiastic SEIU members, touching on labor issues, healthcare, and the war in Iraq. The event was a tryout of sorts to secure the endorsement of the union and its 1.9 million members.
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Clinton Up With New Ad
(CBS)
Text of the ad: "She changed our thinking when she introduced universal health care to America. She changed the lives of six million kids when she championed the bill that gave them health insurance. And she changed future generations by pushing the drug companies to lower the cost of vaccinations. Now she has a health care plan that lets you keep your coverage if you like it, provides affordable choices if you don't and covers every American. So if you?re ready for change, she's ready to lead."
Starting Gate: Something Borrowed, Something New …
3268299Hillary Clinton's long-awaited health care proposal was finally rolled out and, well, it's another health care reform proposal that's kind of like the 1993 version for which she received so much criticism only not so much like it. It's sort of like the Edwards and Obama plans but a little different. And, of course, it's not at all similar to what Republicans want to do, but maybe just a little. Is that triangulation or what?
The results of yesterday's CBS News poll had to have been heralded within Clinton's campaign. The poll showed that Democratic primary voters view her as better able to deal with health care reform than her opponents for the nomination, suggesting that the "scars" she carries from her 1993 experience may not be very deep.
Elsewhere, the reactions were fairly predictable. Rudy Giuliani bashed government-mandated coverage, saying, "government command and control only increases costs and decreases quality. … My approach is to encourage people to buy their own health insurance ... give people incentives to buy health insurance, not demand that they do it." Mitt Romney called it "a European-style socialized medicine plan."
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The results of yesterday's CBS News poll had to have been heralded within Clinton's campaign. The poll showed that Democratic primary voters view her as better able to deal with health care reform than her opponents for the nomination, suggesting that the "scars" she carries from her 1993 experience may not be very deep.
Elsewhere, the reactions were fairly predictable. Rudy Giuliani bashed government-mandated coverage, saying, "government command and control only increases costs and decreases quality. … My approach is to encourage people to buy their own health insurance ... give people incentives to buy health insurance, not demand that they do it." Mitt Romney called it "a European-style socialized medicine plan."
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McCain Talks Faith In South Carolina
(AP)
Now McCain has told reporters that what ultimately matters is his overarching faith. "The most important thing is that I am a Christian," he said.
The McCain story comes on the heels of Fred Thompson's acknowledgment last week that he is not a regular churchgoer and is not comfortable talking about faith on the stump. As for the other frontrunners, former New York mayor Rudy Giuliani has, by and large, not stressed his faith on the campaign trail, while former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney has had to deal with a number of questions about his Mormonism, which he has not made a centerpiece of his campaign.
In fact, it has thus far fallen to the candidates with lower poll numbers to duke it out over who has the most legitimate religious bona fides. At the beginning of August, Sen. Sam Brownback's campaign accused Gov. Mike Huckabee's supporters of an "anti-Catholic whisper campaign." And along with Tom Tancredo, the pair indicated at a GOP debate in May that they do not believe in evolution. Alan Keyes, who entered the race today, is also expected to make his faith an important aspect of his campaign.
Keyes Joins GOP Field
Alan Keyes is back.
The socially conservative Republican, who has twice run for president in the past, has filed paperwork with the Federal Election Commission to give it one more shot.
According to a statement posted at RenewAmerica, an activist group he chairs, Keyes has been "unmoved" by the other candidates' lack of moral courage. "The one thing I've always been called to do is to raise the standard . . . of our allegiance to God and His authority that has been the foundation stone of our nation's life," he said.
Keyes ran for the highest office in the land in 1996 and 2000, in between a trio of failed Senate runs in Maryland and Illinois. (The latter came against Barack Obama, whom he said Jesus Christ would not vote for.) He was State Department official under Ronald Reagan and has been a prominent media commentator, going back to his 1990s radio show "The Alan Keyes Show: America's Wake-Up Call."
It is unlikely, given the current political landscape, that Keyes will overtake the frontrunners in the crowded Republican field, storm to the GOP nomination, and take out the Democrat in the general election, something Keyes surely realizes. So what is his latest political foray all about? Perhaps it's as simple as name recognition and the opportunities it provides: After all, Mike Gravel wasn't exactly a household name this time last year, and now he's getting to expound on the Bush administration on national television.
If nothing else, Keyes' run could spice things up a bit: Like some other long-shot candidates, among them Dennis Kucinich and Ron Paul, Keyes is an excellent, sometimes-confrontational debater who is unafraid to make comments that might alienate certain members of the audience. He may or may not get much chance to use those skills, since it's far from a sure thing that Keyes will be invited to share the debate stage with the Republican frontrunners. But he is scheduled to participate in a debate with other long-shots tonight in Florida. So if you've been skipping the presidential debates because they're too boring for your tastes, this may be the night to tune in.
The socially conservative Republican, who has twice run for president in the past, has filed paperwork with the Federal Election Commission to give it one more shot.
According to a statement posted at RenewAmerica, an activist group he chairs, Keyes has been "unmoved" by the other candidates' lack of moral courage. "The one thing I've always been called to do is to raise the standard . . . of our allegiance to God and His authority that has been the foundation stone of our nation's life," he said.
Keyes ran for the highest office in the land in 1996 and 2000, in between a trio of failed Senate runs in Maryland and Illinois. (The latter came against Barack Obama, whom he said Jesus Christ would not vote for.) He was State Department official under Ronald Reagan and has been a prominent media commentator, going back to his 1990s radio show "The Alan Keyes Show: America's Wake-Up Call."
It is unlikely, given the current political landscape, that Keyes will overtake the frontrunners in the crowded Republican field, storm to the GOP nomination, and take out the Democrat in the general election, something Keyes surely realizes. So what is his latest political foray all about? Perhaps it's as simple as name recognition and the opportunities it provides: After all, Mike Gravel wasn't exactly a household name this time last year, and now he's getting to expound on the Bush administration on national television.
If nothing else, Keyes' run could spice things up a bit: Like some other long-shot candidates, among them Dennis Kucinich and Ron Paul, Keyes is an excellent, sometimes-confrontational debater who is unafraid to make comments that might alienate certain members of the audience. He may or may not get much chance to use those skills, since it's far from a sure thing that Keyes will be invited to share the debate stage with the Republican frontrunners. But he is scheduled to participate in a debate with other long-shots tonight in Florida. So if you've been skipping the presidential debates because they're too boring for your tastes, this may be the night to tune in.
Starting Gate: Red Meat For Iowa Dems
(AP)
All the Democrats are pledging an end to the war, but the nuances of just how to get there continue to drive much of the primary discussion. John Edwards, who has courted the anti-war vote aggressively, has long criticized his primary opponents (specifically Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama) for not doing more to force President Bush to change course in Iraq. Yesterday, Obama inched toward Edwards on the issue, indicating his future votes on Iraq funding will be tied to a timetable for withdrawal.
"We are going to bring an end to this war and I will fight hard in the United States Senate to make sure we don't pass any funding bill that does not have a deadline," Obama said. Democratic candidates are wary of voting against funding measures for the war because it potentially opens the way for criticism that they are putting U.S. troops in danger.
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Past "Pure Horserace" Stories
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