Former Pa. senators look at earlier efforts for health care

Mar 8, 2010 — USA Today

Richard Wolf

Nineteen years ago, Pennsylvania launched the last major effort to change the nation's health care system by electing a little-known Democrat named Harris Wofford to the U.S. Senate with the message: "If you're sick, you should have the right to a doctor."

Three years later, that effort ended in a debacle — for Wofford, President Clinton and the health care plan they espoused.

On Monday, as President Obama comes to Philadelphia for the first stop in his latest cross-country crusade on health care, Wofford hopes Democrats in Congress recall the example he set in 1991, not 1994.

"It will take courage on a lot of people's parts," Wofford says of the upcoming votes in the House and Senate. "It's not just courage that they need. It's also a belief that public opinion, with the successful passage of a bill and time between now and November, is going to change."

Public opinion turned against Clinton's national health care plan in 1994, forcing Democrats in Congress to abandon it. This White House has been advising Democrats that failure to pass Obama's plan would be the worst thing for them politically.

Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius predicted Sunday that the administration will get the votes it needs to pass a comprehensive bill. "The American people are desperate for something to happen," Sebelius said on NBC's Meet the Press.

But Republican Rick Santorum, who defeated Wofford in 1994, says Democrats will compound their problems if they pass Obama's 10-year, $950 billion package. "I would argue that Democrats have learned the wrong lesson," he says. "The lesson learned (in 1994) is what happened once the issue was actually put before the American public."

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Wofford and Santorum have moved on since their 1994 race became a test of Clinton's plan. Wofford, 83, ran the Corporation for National and Community Service and remains active in many volunteerism initiatives. Santorum, 51, served 12 years in the Senate before losing in 2006. A conservative writer and speaker, Santorum has said he may run for president in 2012.

The two have forged a friendship and share a mutual respect. But they still disagree on 90% of the issues, they say, notably health care. Wofford remains a proponent of government efforts to expand insurance coverage. Santorum puts his faith in the private marketplace.

In 1991, Wofford, an appointed senator seeking election, likened a patient's right to a doctor to an accused criminal's right to a lawyer. It helped him overcome favored Republican Richard Thornburgh, President George H.W. Bush's attorney general and former Pennsylvania governor.

Clinton picked up the mantle the following year, riding Wofford's campaign team of James Carville and Paul Begala to victory and embarking on his effort to revamp health care in 1993. But in the space of two years, the effort failed, and the "Republican Revolution" that followed cost Democrats control of Congress.

This time, Wofford says it's important for Democrats to pass comprehensive legislation. The White House is telling Democrats the same thing — that a policy failure would be the worst thing for them politically. "I know what happens when you don't pass something," Wofford says.

Santorum takes the opposite view — that the worst thing for Democrats would be to pass the bill. As a candidate in 1994, "I got a lot of blank stares when I got into the weeds," he says. Today, Americans are better informed about Obama's plan, partly because of new media and social networking websites, he says. "People now are right with you. They know exactly what's in this bill."

Santorum recalls trying to keep the issue alive at the end of the 1994 race, because voters were wary of what he calls "government-run health care" and "more bureaucracy," but its death in Congress blunted its impact. "It wasn't as big of an issue, because it didn't pass," he says.

Wofford credits Republicans then and now for successfully demonizing the legislation. But he says Obama is right not to back down, because nothing he could do would win GOP support. He's optimistic about the outcome — partly because of the president's ability to convince others, and partly because public opinion still could shift.

"I expect an all-out effort," he says. "The president's going to have to put every ounce of energy he has into the persuasion aspect, and he's good at that."

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