Opinion: Clinton drives a healthcare wedge

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Hillary Clinton, after effectively hijacking tonight’s Democratic presidential debate from its moderators for a few minutes, has to feel good about how she spotlighted differences between herself and Barack Obama on healthcare policy. It’s an argument they’ve had for months but, by forcing a sustained discussion of it, she was able to drive home their core disagreement on the subject.

Obama, as befits his new front-runner status, sought to paper over their split on whether universal coverage should be mandatory. She would have none of it. ‘I think it’s a substantive difference ... I just know that if we don’t go and require everyone to have health insurance, the health insurance industry will still game the system ...’

For voters wanting to focus on the issue, Clinton made sure that they had something to chew over.

That said, Obama has to feel good about his response to inferences she’s made that he’s not up to the task of protecting the United States. He began with a to-the-point summation: ‘I wouldn’t be running if I didn’t think I was prepared to be commander in chief. And my ... No. 1 job as president will be to keep the American people safe. And I will do whatever is required to accomplish that, and I will not
hesitate to act against those that would do America harm.’

He then discussed several foreign-policy particulars with an assurance that was lacking when he began his presidential quest.

The bottom line: the likelihood seems small that the faceoff swayed masses of voters in Texas or Ohio, the two big prizes on March 4.

Within the universe of political pundits, the big topic of conversation during the next news cycle or two might be over ...

the message Clinton sought to send with her final lines of the night.

She definitely struck a grace note (after having delivered an apparent clunker earlier, when trying to zing Obama over the recent plagiarism brouhaha).

Said Clinton in her closing remarks: ‘You know, no matter what happens in this contest -- and I am honored, I am honored to be here with Barack Obama. I am absolutely honored.’

That won her a burst of applause -- as well as a warm handshake from Obama.

Then she added: ‘Whatever happens, we’re going to be fine. You know, we have strong support from our families and our friends. I just hope that we’ll be able to say the same thing about the American people, and that’s what this election should be about.’

Her campaign’s communications director, Howard Wolfson, in the best tradition of over-the-top spin, fired off this e-mail moments later: ‘What we saw in the final moments in that debate is why Hillary Clinton is the next president of the United States. Her strength, her life experience, her compassion. She’s tested and ready. It was the moment she retook the reins of this race and showed women and men why she is the best choice.’

What others saw, though, was a possible preview of what a departure speech by her from the race might sound like.

[UPDATE: The debate over Clinton’s climactic comments may take a different turn -- and illustrate that her campaign might not have wanted to press that plagiarism charge against Obama quite so aggressively.

Obama aides, in an e-mail, and a couple of readers who commented below, were quick to note similarities between Clinton’s words and some phrasing by one-time candidate John Edwards.

Here are the Edwards quotes sent out by the Obama folks:

12/13/07 debate: “What’s not at stake are any of us. All of us are going to be just fine no matter what happens in this election. But what’s at stake is whether America is going to be fine.”

1/30/08 speech: “I want to say this to everyone: with Elizabeth, with my family, with my friends, with all of you and all of your support, this son of a millworker’s gonna be just fine. Our job now is to make certain that America will be fine.”

Given the grueling length of this campaign, maybe these politicians are just getting to the point where they channel one another.]

-- Don Frederick