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Hillary Rodham Clinton is at it again. Never mind that Michael Dukakis and her have both commented that the GOP would gain a political benefit if the US suffered another terrorist attack. This post has to do with Hillary Rodham Clinton’s press release of August 19, 2007. It is titled, Rove: Wrong Again. Hillary on Health Care. While she admits the failed health care initiative of Bill Clinton’s Administration, that is where the truth stops for all practical purposes.

HRC goes on to say she has the highest score of any candidate on any issue within their own party. While technically correct if all the conditions placed on it here were expressed accurately, her statement is misleading for several reasons. Democrats, according to the same polling report from Gallup, usually score better on domestic issues. That is because everyone is familiar with the Democratic party’s reliance on ‘programs’ as their solutions to problems. The programs always come with spending taxpayer’s money. In this case, 91% of Democrats must favor government run health care.

If you look at the remainder of the health care data in the poll, Clinton scores 65 while Obama scores 61. In the same portion where Clinton draws the 91% among Dems, Obama does 81% and Edwards at 75. So it is not as big a deal as she would have you believe.

Other areas of the poll also give a better picture of results. On a big issue like the war in Iraq, even Gallup’s summary with an excerpt in the subtitle indicates no candidate has an edge on the issue. All but two of the seven are in the 50% range with two in the 30’s. Clinton is in the middle in fourth place.

On fighting terrorism, Giuliani and McCain lead the pack with scores in the 60’s with Clinton trailing in the 50’s. Sort of takes some of the punch out of that 91% among Dems score for health care.

On the economy, good news for Clinton fans. She is essentially in a three way tie with Obama and Giuliani. Giuliani leads the national election polls while Clinton and Obama lead for the Dems. Funny how the poll for confidence on issues mirrors that trend. Are the voters in these polls choosing their candidate first and then simply transferring that to an issue survey? That would not be a shocker.

If you read the Gallup poll for yourself two things may happen. You will find some interesting comparisons beyond what the report describes. And second, your reaction will not be as positive as Hillary Rodham Clinton hopes.

Read the rest of Hillary Rodham Clinton’s press release carefully. You will notice a trend to use phrases and words that are intended to inflate Hillary Rodham Clinton’s involvement on issues. Examples would be, ‘helped create’, ‘helped ensure’, ‘Hillary is fighting’ and others. If you are helping or fighting it really says nothing about what you did specifically. What exactly is a ‘point person working to ensure’? What’s the difference between ’sponsoring’ legislation and ‘backing it’?

The same goes for her statements on S.650. She is not the sponsor of the legislation according to Thomas at the Library of Congress. She was a co-sponsor along with four or five others. By saying she introduced it may not be accurate. Hillary Rodham Clinton has received criticism before for not getting involved in any issue that could derail her plans. This could be one of those times and now she wants credit. If you introduced the legislation, how come you are not the sponsor of record?

Without checking, you might be able to give one to Hillary on prescription drug legislation. Rove says she voted against and Hillary says it was a rotten bill. Some do say it was a cash cow for the drug companies. The only good it may provide is another option. You don’t have to participate. There are people who don’t because their current arrangement is better. So if it is just another option for people without good coverage, then it was a good thing. You decide. This one is unclear.

The remainder of the Rove/Clinton argument is like the last one. In essence there were problems with the specific issues before government action and there still are problems. It really solved nothing. So the effects of doing nothing or doing what was proposed gives about a horse a piece. This part was a waste of time by both sides.

The bottom line here is Hillary Rodham Clinton is wrong on most of the above, may have scored one on prescription drugs and its a horse a piece on the rest. That would be aided by Hillary Rodham Clinton not locking up her First Lady docs until after the election. Any way you slice that it points to deception. If she wants to stand on her record then stand on it, don’t hide it or try to make it into something it is not.

Stanford Matthews
MoreWhat.com

sources:
Hillary Rodham Clinton’s Aug 19, 2007 press release

Gallup Poll referenced by Hillary Rodham Clinton

additional reading:

some information on SCHIPS

Senate Bill S.650

This entry was posted on Friday, August 31st, 2007 at 12:05 pm and is filed under Public Affairs, wordpress, Politics, campaign, youtube, Democrats, Clinton, disclosure, ethics, Video, hillary. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.