Rep. Henry Waxman, a California Democrat who was then the ranking Democrat on the House Energy and Commerce Committee that handles health legislation, also had no recollection of Hillary Clinton weighing in.
“I don’t remember the role of the [Clinton] White House,” said Waxman, who is uncommitted on this year’s presidential race. “It [the S-CHIP bill] did not originate at the White House.”
In response to the Globe’s inquiries, Clinton campaign advisers did not spell out what Clinton did to enact the law, but one aide, Chris Jennings, said “at every step of the way, she was always pushing” for expanded healthcare for children.
The Clinton campaign also suggested that politics might be influencing the questions about Clinton’s S-CHIP role, since Sen. Kennedy has endorsed Barack Obama and Sen. Hatch is supporting John McCain, the presumptive Republican nominee. [Boston Globe, March 14, 2008]
Still, while it’s common for politicians to highlight their roles in passing popular legislation, Sen. Clinton has woven the enactment of S-CHIP as a central thread in her campaign narrative. It explains how she would govern and why voters should embrace her vision that pluck and hard work can conquer all.
In Clinton’s narrative, she picked herself up from her failed health-care plan, learned some lessons, and then pushed through a slimmed-down measure (S-CHIP) that has produced important results for millions of American families.
If that story is essentially false, then she is misleading voters not only on her credentials as a bipartisan crafter of legislation but on her notion that she can bring about change through her burn-the-midnight-oil tenacity.
Barack Obama has offered a competing vision, that his ability to rally public enthusiasm for change – and his distance from the bitter partisanship of the Clinton Years – will let him transcend Washington’s divisions and achieve real progress on domestic priorities.
Though there may be merit to both approaches, neither Democratic candidate has articulated what may be the most important element in overcoming Republican resistance – winning a landslide that carries in large Democratic majorities in the House and Senate.
However, the likelihood that either Obama or Clinton will have the “coattails” needed to achieve a filibuster-proof Senate or a dominant House majority has faded over the past several weeks with the length and negativity of the Democratic nominating race.
The disclosure that Hillary Clinton hyped her role in passing the S-CHIP law is only going to raise new doubts about the honesty and integrity of the onetime Democratic frontrunner.
Robert Parry broke many of the Iran-Contra stories in the 1980s for the Associated Press and Newsweek. His latest book, Neck Deep: The Disastrous Presidency of George W. Bush, was written with two of his sons, Sam and Nat, and can be ordered at neckdeepbook.com. His two previous books, Secrecy & Privilege: The Rise of the Bush Dynasty from Watergate to Iraq and Lost History: Contras, Cocaine, the Press & 'Project Truth' are also available there. Or go to Amazon.com.
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