Johnny-Come-Latelys to Universal Health Care

Apparently Sen. Barack Obama is now the go-to man on universal health care. The male bloggers love his speech calling for universal health care and one of them commented on one of my recent posts that Sen. Hillary Clinton wasn't progressive enough on health care but "Obama has called for universal health care."

I'm still laughing. As I wrote to my anonymous critiquer, "Interesting that you credit Obama with thinking about universal health care when Clinton's on very public record for having done something about it." The critiquer is no doubt too young to remember Sen. Clinton's crusade for universal health care as First Lady in 1993 and 1994. Now all of a sudden Clinton looks like a visionary, not a polarizer, and every else wants in on the action.

In his Sunday column "The growing momentum for health-care reform" David Broder noted Sen. Obama has committed to the goal of universal health care, "without saying how to get there." Broder was being generous. I read all three ponderous pages of the Obama speech and found zero specifics on how he would solve the problem.

Obama waxing wise on how he alone has the ability to bring about universal health care is like me claiming a solution to peace in the Middle East. Sure, I studied Middle East history and politics in my graduate program, I went to a top law school, and I've worked for years in government. But I have no experience in the area and no feel for how players interact at that level. And, somehow, a smugness seeps through Obama's speech that suggests this is all his idea. Without anything more concrete than "I am absolutely determined," Obama comes off like a pretty Miss America candidate calling for world peace.

Former Senator John Edwards has a little more credibility in the area. He did campaign on the "Two Americas" theme in 2004 and has a record of fighting for working class interests. But critics find his noticeable and recent shift to the left, including his repudiation of his earlier support for the Iraq War, as "nothing more than an opportunistic rebranding." And, I don't recall that universal health care was part of the Kerry/Edwards 2004 ticket.

Back to our frontrunner. Sen. Clinton, out stumping in Iowa, has renewed her call for universal health care. Broder writes, "On her first trip to Iowa, Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton showed her mastery of the subject, explaining what had gone wrong in 1994 and the lessons learned." At a Des Moines Town Hall, Clinton noted the problems of early 1990s were still with us - and getting worse.

Polls showed the public was ready for universal health care in 1993 and Clinton bravely took it on. She ran smack into the powerful lobby interests who ultimately took her and the plan down. But this gives her the wisdom of the battle weary. She put herself on the line, something none of the other candidates has done. The exception is Kucinich, who pays the consequences of putting his progressive views on the line by being tagged as a kook.

As strong leaders will do, Sen. Clinton accepts responsibility for her fumbles in the health care debate in the early 1990s. Moreoever, unlike President Bush, she shows a keen ability to learn from her mistakes. Even to laugh at them. A few weeks ago the senator offered President Bush a "suit of armor" if he was going to plunge into the health care debate.

Now, that's someone I'd like to have a beer with.