Hillary Cares

Not long ago, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi came dangerously close to saying Sen. Barack Obama will be the Democratic Presidential nominee. Then some money bags threatened her and every other Democrat running for election to Congress. Now Speaker Pelosi, who will be the ex-officio chairperson at the Democratic convention in Denver, says she must remain neutral and let the process play itself out. The first female Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives praises Sen. Hillary Clinton for how far she has brought women in politics. Even Obama can not say enough nice things about Hillary, thanking her for opening doors for his daughters. This begins to remind me of the scene back in the 1990’s when Hillary Clinton, at the time First Lady, went to Capitol Hill to present her plans for National Healthcare. Senatorial courtesy was never more genteel and gracious. It was a love fest. Everybody beamed, like fast friends. Then Congress could not lock the door behind Hillary Clinton fast enough. Even Daniel Patrick Moynihan declared that anyone who thinks Hillary’s plan “can work in the real world isn’t living in it.” Moynihan, who preceded Hillary as Democratic Senator from New York, should have been her natural ally. Something went wrong.

In 1993, Bill Clinton made health care reform one of the highest priorities of his administration and named Hillary to lead the way. Under her direction, a health care plan was hatched in secret meetings, ignoring sunshine laws for the people’s business, and igniting a round of government by litigation. My ruthless lawyers can beat your ruthless lawyers. Television ads showed Harry and Louise, a hard-working middle-class couple, confused and threatened over the complex and bureaucratic nature of “HillaryCare.” By the 1994 mid-term election, Newt Gingrich of Georgia led the Republican revolution to gain control of both houses of Congress, ending consideration of universal health care in the United States for the next 15 years. During the current Presidential campaign debates, Hillary dismissed another candidate’s healthcare plan, saying, "We tried that in '93, and I've got the scars to prove it". Yeah, so do we all. So do we all.

I do not know why some of Sen. Clinton’s staunchest supporters have decided now is the time to charge “sexism” in the campaign. In the old days, my daddy used to say he would never vote for a woman, because every 28 days their judgment, well, you’ve probably known people like my Daddy. I’m cleaning this up a little. I won’t even try to clean up what he said about African-Americans. I’ve never seen a campaign that had so many people biting their tongues. Maybe Hillary Clinton has opened some doors for Barack Obama’s daughters. It will be a long time before they are old enough to run for President.

Copyright 2008 by William C. Cotter