Obama Wins Primaries, Caucuses in Four States; Huckabee, McCain Each Garner Wins

Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Barack Obama (Ill.) won primaries and caucuses in Louisiana, Nebraska and Washington state on Saturday and won the Maine caucus on Sunday, CNN.com reports. Among Republican candidates, former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee won primaries in Kansas and Louisiana on Saturday, and Sen. John McCain (R) won the Washington state caucus on Saturday (CNN.com, 2/11).

In Louisiana, an exit poll conducted by Edison Media Research and Mitofsky International found that, among Democratic primary voters, 47% cited the economy as the most important issue in the election, followed by 27% who cited the war in Iraq and 22% who cited health care. Obama won among Democratic primary voters who cited health care as the most important issue. Given four choices, 33% of Republican voters said the economy was the top issue. Immigration was chosen by 24%, terrorism by 20% and the war in Iraq by 17% of GOP voters.

The poll included responses from 1,183 Democratic primary voters in 30 precincts in Louisiana and had a margin of sampling error of plus or minus four percentage points (AP/Miami Herald, 2/9).

Clinton in Washington State
In an interview with the Seattle Post-Intelligencer Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Rodham Clinton (N.Y.) on Thursday cited health care as the "most prominent" difference between herself and Obama.

In the interview, Clinton said that she "took the political risk and staked out the ground" on a proposal that would require all U.S. residents to obtain health insurance. She added, "Senator Obama chose not to, and he has spent the past couple of weeks attacking me for being in favor of universal health care, which I find astonishing." In addition, Clinton said, "And for the life of me, I don't think it's the smart position for a Democrat or a progressive to take. I think it's imperative that we stand for universal health care. I've been down this road." She added, "But if you don't even try, you're ceding the ground to the health insurance companies, the drug companies, the Republicans, without a fight, and I think that's a mistake" (Modie, Seattle Post-Intelligencer, 2/8).

Editorial
The race for the Democratic presidential nomination "remains a toss-up," but the "contours of the general election debate, and to some extent the next administration, have become remarkably clear," a Washington Post editorial states.

Democratic and Republican candidates have "conflicting visions of the proper role and size of government," with disagreements "over the best approach to restraining health care costs" and "making insurance affordable," the editorial states. For example, McCain places "far more emphasis on market forces" and opposes any mandates, either "on individuals to purchase coverage or on insurers to offer coverage to all," according to the editorial (Washington Post, 2/10).

Opinion Pieces

• Jonah Goldberg, Miami Herald: "Both Obama and Clinton insist there are no major policy differences between them, except for the war and health care," but their disagreements on those issues "actually demonstrate how little separates them," columnist Goldberg writes in the Herald. According to Goldberg, their differences on health care are "interesting to a few health care wonks and activists -- she wants to mandate universal coverage, he doesn't -- but it's all absurdly academic." He writes, "Anybody who knows anything about how Washington works understands that presidential campaign proposals are, at best, mere discussion documents when it comes time to craft actual legislation," adding, "Just as no plan long survives actual combat, no campaign baloney survives the congressional meat grinder unscathed" (Goldberg, Miami Herald, 2/11).
  
  
• Froma Harrop, Providence Journal: "We are told that the primary voters don't really care about the issues," but "there are Americans who do care," as "bruised workers" appear "to be supporting the candidate who grapples with the details" on health care and other concerns -- Clinton, syndicated columnist Harrop writes in the Journal. For example, she writes, California Hispanic voters -- who are "far more likely than other groups to lack health coverage, even when you subtract" undocumented immigrants -- supported Clinton because, "given a choice between inspiration and health care," they "chose health care." According to Harrop, a "coherent health care system isn't just a matter of social equity," but a "dire economic need." She writes that, although Obama has promised changes, his health care proposal "offers very much 'more of the same' -- as in 'no universal coverage.'" His proposal to reduce health care costs but not require residents to obtain health insurance "sounds congenial and nonthreatening," but the problem is that "lots of healthy people" will "avoid paying into the insurance pool until they get sick, at which point they'll claim their taxpayer subsidies," Harrop writes. She adds that the proposal is "half-Democrat and half-Republican but ... 100% unworkable" (Harrop, Providence Journal, 2/10).
  
  
• Rose Ann DeMoro/Rossia Avery, Fort Worth Star-Telegram: The argument by Clinton that "Obama is 'leaving out' people" because his health care proposal would not require all residents to obtain coverage and that such a mandate, which her plan includes, "constitutes 'universal health care' is disingenuous," DeMoro and Avery write in a Star-Telegram opinion piece. The authors write, "'Having' insurance is not the same as being able to use it," adding, "You're only being mandated to purchase the premiums -- they're not mandating that insurance companies make sure you get the care you need." According to the authors, the U.S. needs a single-payer health care system -- which "works" in some form in "every other Western country" -- because the current system "has hit rock bottom" (DeMoro/Avery, Fort-Worth Star-Telegram, 2/10).

Broadcast Coverage
CNBC on Friday reported on contributions to presidential campaigns by pharmaceutical and health care products companies. The segment includes comments from Sheila Krumholz of the Center for Responsive Politics (Huckman, CNBC, 2/8). Video of the segment is available online.