Obama Hires 'Harry and Louise' to Attack Hillary's Plan for Health Care: Republicans Thrilled!

Here's a top contender for the most egregious political strategy of the current campaign season: the ObamacCampaign is now circulating a mailer that resuscitates the images of "Harry and Louise," the notorious stars of a political ad that was part of a $300 million campaign by the health insurance industry and others to bring down the Clinton administration's health reform proposal in 1993. The photograph of a middle-aged couple looking troubled as they pour over a pile of papers on their kitchen table adorns the first page of the Obama mailer -- but it looks like it could have been a screen shot taken from the original Harry and Louise piece.

But there's more. The accompanying copy in the mailer is nothing more than a list of untrue assertions and seemingly deliberate misrepresentations of Senator Clinton's positions on health care. It is simply false that Senator Clinton's plan would "force everyone to buy insurance, even if you can't afford it." In fact, Senator Clinton's plan not only includes nearly twice the resources for health care tax credits as the Obama campaign but would cap premiums at a low share of a family's income, to ensure that everyone could afford to be in the system. And according to the Commonwealth Fund, the best way to maximize cost reductions in health care is to make it truly universal, with an individual requirement as part of the shared responsibility needed to make the whole system work.

Yet if Hillary becomes the Democratic nominee, the Obama campaign has just packaged an ad that could be used, essentially unedited, by the Republicans next fall. To make matters worse, Barack Obama's resuscitation of Harry and Louise ad also helps bolster the cause of those who, at all costs, oppose meaningful health reform.

I can only imagine a clutch of smart, experienced health care policy wonks, a few political advisers and Senator Obama trying to come up with a plan that would address the uninsured, the under-insured, the mind-numbing bureaucracy, the $2 trillion of costs now attributed to U.S medical care and the rest of problems that have led most people to understand that the system is in crisis.

You can almost hear the advocates for genuine reform telling the Senator that you can't fix the problems of the uninsured and bring costs under control without making sure that everybody was covered. And there were just two ways to go, the advisers probably pointed out: either a single-payer system, a la Canada, or individual requirements for every citizen to buy coverage. The latter approach, of course, would also need serious cost controls, big-time regulation of health insurance practices and subsidies to help low-income families. This is the direction that Hillary Clinton and John Edwards took.

Maybe Senator Obama got all of this. But then, one of the political advisers must have said something on the order of "No way. Single payer or individual requirements will never sell...Americans won't buy it." In fact, The New Republic explained that Obama advisers were concerned about "excessive ambition" and feared that a "mandate sounds scarier to the public, particularly middle-class voters."

While we can only speculate on Senator Obama's personal motivations, what is perfectly clear is that he ended up proposing a plan that would not require individual citizens to do anything and, according to many independent experts, would leave at least 15 million Americans out of the system. That means 15 million people out of the insurance pool, jacking up costs for the rest of us. It also means millions of people still crowding up the emergency rooms, getting care that, to them, is "free" but actually gets paid for by the rest of us through tax-based support to the hospitals and doctors who actually provide care to the uninsured.

Senator Obama is a very smart guy, and I would like to think that he wouldn't mind a re-do on this issue. But, of course, that is a no-no in American presidential politics. So, Obama is left in the extraordinary position of now having to defend a position that most progressives would never embrace -- in essence leaving large numbers of people without health care. And to top it off, he's now attacking universal health care and making a reincarnated Harry and Louise to do the dirty work. I suspect that many Democrats will simply see this as a desperate "go Republican" strategy that could have the unintended consequence of setting back the cause of universal health care.

Comments

[bauersox]

The Clintons themselves appeared in a very funny parody of the Harry & Louise commercials. The video doesn't seem to be online anyplace. It's ridiculous to try to fix health care without making it universal and compulsery. Many of the people who finagle free care from hospitals are people who can afford to buy health insurance even now; they simply would prefer to do other things with the money. It's very naive for Obama to think that people will spend money on health insurance if they don't have to.

[Jazz42]

Why should I take what you say at face value?.
I want to see proof that Senator Obama's campaign sent those mailers out. I think we can assume who you are campaigning for

[sarnold49]

Oh that Obama! He's such a "uniter"! And gee, no more dirty politics, what a "change"!

He's a disgusting liar!

[Menemshasunset]

We will have to wait a long time for the press or the Obama campaign to apologize for anything- Healthcare is one of the cornerstones of Hillary Clinton's campaign. Given the Paul Krugman assessment of Obama's plan vs. Clinton's it's no wonder their Obama people had to use smear tactics. Having Robert Gibbs, Obama's communications director, one of those responsible for the Howard Dean/Osama bin Laden face morph ad, do we wonder that Obama's people have managed to stay below the radar for a whole host of nasty tricks-thanks msm- our country deserves better.

[ebbtide]

Yup, one of her official supporters said this ad was an ad that was similar to the Nazis abd compared the ad to one of the Nazi propagandists.

Wow. Way to go Hillary. Are you losing the Jewish vote or something, that one of your surrogates has seen fit to bring up the holocaust and tie your formidable opponent to the Nazis? You bet. I would not put it past you to do so, given the history of your slime over the past few months.

Additionaly Hillary also said that she would see to it that her government would take over the wages of people inorder to force them into a health care plan. People do not have health care insurance today, because they cannot afford it. !!!! MAKE them pay, dammit, by taking out of their meager wagesand that oughta do it, right?

[kkvh4026]

Whilst he is capable of getting votes, his approach to universal healthcare has proved that he is less likely to implement the promise of change and unity. This is because he has unable to unite all the Democrats to support his healthcare plan as they don't feel that it goes far to aim to cover everyone. Most Democrats would say that Edwards, Hillary & Kucinich offered differnt yet universal healthcare plans, but Obama's doesn't aim to commit the government & all individuals to make sure everyone is insured. Secondly he's releasing Harry & Louise type adds saying that Hillary wil "force" people to buy insurance even if they can't afford it & tries to suggest that those that refuse will be somehow punished. What he doesn't realise is that he's helping Republicans who don't agree with the principle of universal healthcare to weaken support of both their plans as his also has a mandate for children, hence they would be using those same arguments he raised against him to explain how he'd enforce that mandate. Whilst I don't doubt his personal comitment to wanting healthcare to be affordable, it's clear that he's proved ineffective in getting support from Democrats & is actually giving credibility to the views of Republicans who strongly oppose the principle of healthcare by his Harry & Louise type ads.

[neworleanslady68]

I don't condone this is any way - in fact, I flat out don't like it - but, you know, the Hillary people too are guilty of saying things against Obama that will be used against him in the general campaign. All that talk about Obama's supposed lack of experience? Look for that to be a Republican talking point in the fall - and look for ads that have it coming straight from Hillary's mouth.

I wish it were possible to win a primary without handing the other party ammunition for the general election.

[bobdob]

What an incredible load of crap. In the first place, Hillary's plan has NO chance of becoming law. None whatsoever. It's supposed to be a "universal health care" plan, and yet it appeals only to Democrats and will be bitterly opposed by every Republican in America and many Democrats as well. Since when is telling private citizens that they MUST pay thousands of dollars a year to for-profit insurance companies a "basic Democratic principle" as Hillary claims it is. It's not even an American principle.

Obama was only doing Hillary (and us) a favor. Hillary's health care plan is D.O.A.

[altohone]

Please see the debate on the post on this topic yesterday.

Hillary's plan solidifies the role of the insurers just like Mitt Romney's health care mandate. Garnishing the wages of those who struggle with rent and food isn't progressive.

The ad is nothing like you say it is, nor does it bear any resemblance to the ad you reference.

[Spookcatcher]

The more money and corruption that poors into and therefore manifests itself out of Obama the MSM and Elitists American Idol, whiile it won't change the ignorant herd of sheep American Public, it could serve four years fronm now when we are in a full blown Depression and a 100 year War and a draft instuituted that the public did have enough information who Obama's handlers are and how he got on the stage to begin with.

[jonnie66]

Obama criticized again for going negative and misleading on Clinton.Do­es Sen. Obama think that using divisive GOP tactics is the way to bring the country together? New America Foundation said "personally outraged at Obama camps recent mailer! Obama showed vindictiveness after victory SC. The first part of speech attack on the Clintons. handle defeat in New Hampshire and Nevada? With denial, petulance AND racism. Clinton pointed out, it's not enough to hope and demand change; you had to be able to define what change you want and deliver. Obama introduced King into the debate. Hillarys words were being construed as hidden racism. Obama's people was briefing the media to create this impression. The consequence has been exactly what you would expect. blacks voted overwhelmingly for Obama and non-blacks voted overwhelmingly for Clinton. He won only 23 per cent of the non-black vote. Contrast this to Iowa, where he won a large proportion of the white vote. It's a tragedy for Obama and entirely his own fault that this has happened. he became "the black candidate
Obama's most effective criticisms of Clinton, she voted for authorising the war, he opposed it from the start but he had consistently opposed the war ever since. This story of consistent opposition over years was a "fairytale" the media had bought into.Obama has managed to persuade the media that this was a lie that he would correct. He hasn't corrected it, because he can't. He has not been consistent in the terms he set himself.
Obama supported Kerry for president, Kerry voted for war and continued to justify his support. Obama said that he did not want to cause Kerry embarrassment so he said that he, Obama, did not know how he would have voted. Isn't this the candidate who's about change, whose whole candidacy is based on a "different kind of politics"? Isn't this the candidate who says the country can no longer tolerate political spin, that lying in the name of political advantage is what's destroying the country? Obama effectively states that he was lying for political advantage.

[tecumseh80]

I agree that this strategy shows some poor judgement on part of the Obama campaign - if it makes you want to vote for Hillary, then by all means do so.

Yet, I care little. I can pull apart Hillary's plan as well - the right plan is left up to voters to decipher. Yet, let us not get into negative campaign tactics, please. It is getting quite old - I do not think we need to re-hash what the Clintons have done in this campaign.

Anyway, good to luck to all voters and their decision on the issues.