Democratic Presidential Candidate Sen. Clinton Promotes Health Care Proposal To Attract Hispanic Voters

Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (N.Y.) is "calculating" that her experience on the issue of health care will provide her with an advantage over rival Sen. Barack Obama (Ill.) among Hispanic voters, the Wall Street Journal reports.

According to the Journal, the "Hispanic vote is huge" in many of the states that will hold Democratic presidential primaries on Feb. 5, as Hispanics account for 22.8% of eligible voters in California, 17% in Arizona, 12.3% in Colorado, 11.4% in New York and 9.9% in New Jersey. A nationwide survey conducted last fall by Pew Hispanic Center found that Hispanics cited education, health care and the economy as their most important issues.

As a result, the Clinton campaign "plays up" her health care proposal and the "fact that her plan demands universal coverage for all Americans while Mr. Obama's" would require coverage only for children, the Journal reports. The Clinton campaign also believes that "rising economic anxiety" will provide "extra punch to the Clinton history and emphasis on health care," according to the Journal (Kaufman/Seib, Wall Street Journal, 1/29).

Opinion Piece
"Health care has been a sleeper issue in the Republican presidential primaries," but the "GOP does have ... big and transformative ideas designed to energize the free market to target many of the problems that plague our health sector," Grace-Marie Turner, president of the Galen Institute and a health care adviser to Republican candidates former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani and Sen. John McCain (Ariz.), writes in a Journal opinion piece.

According to Turner, Republican candidates have "announced plans that would give more power and control to individuals over their health care and health insurance, breaking the employment-based coverage lock." She adds that such proposals are a "far cry from the proposals" of Democratic candidates, who "talk about patient choices and private insurance options" but have announced plans that "rely on a much bigger dose of government."

The differences in health proposals from Republican and Democratic presidential candidates are "stark," Turner writes, adding, "The choice this election year is real" (Turner, Wall Street Journal, 1/29).

Related Broadcast Coverage
PBS' "NewsHour with Jim Lehrer" on Monday reported on the opinions of New Jersey voters on health care issues as part of a series of reports on states with Feb. 5 presidential primaries. According to a recent poll conducted by the Center for State Health Policy at Rutgers University, health care is an important issue for New Jersey residents. About 60% of New Jersey residents would agree to pay higher taxes to expand health insurance for all residents, the poll found.

The segment includes comments from Joel Cantor, director of the Rutgers Center for State Health Policy, and New Jersey residents. The segment also includes a discussion with New Jersey residents about health care costs and proposals from presidential candidates (Aron/Woodruff, "NewsHour with Jim Lehrer," PBS, 1/28).

Audio and a transcript of the segment are available online. Video will be available Tuesday afternoon.