The Choice Between Sanders and Clinton

[DaveT]

88. A good question

Let's start with what wiki says about the Clinton health care proposals of 1993-4.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clinton_health_care_plan_of_1993

The Clinton health care plan, known officially as the Health Security Act and unofficially nicknamed "Hillarycare" (after First Lady Hillary Clinton) by its detractors, was a 1993 healthcare reform package proposed by the administration of President Bill Clinton and closely associated with the chair of the task force devising the plan, First Lady of the United States Hillary Rodham Clinton.

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Hillary Clinton was drafted by the Clinton Administration to head a new Task Force and sell the plan to the American people, a plan which ultimately backfired amid the barrage of fire from the pharmaceutical and health insurance industries and considerably diminished her own popularity. By September 1994, the final compromise Democratic bill was declared dead by Senate Majority Leader George J. Mitchell[citation needed].

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Hillary Rodham Clinton's leading role in this project was unprecedented for a presidential spouse.[2][3] This unusual decision by President Clinton to put his wife in charge of the project has been attributed to several factors, such as the President's desire to emphasize his personal commitment to the enterprise.[3]

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The 1994 mid-term election became, in the opinion of one media observer, a "referendum on big government – Hillary Clinton had launched a massive health-care reform plan that wound up strangled by its own red tape."[22] In that 1994 election, the Republican revolution, led by Newt Gingrich, gave the GOP control of both the House of Representatives and the Senate for the first time since the 83rd Congress of 1953–1954, ending prospects for a Clinton-sponsored health care overhaul. Comprehensive health care reform in the United States was not seriously considered or enacted by Congress until Barack Obama's election in 2008.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Republican_Revolution

The Republican Revolution, Revolution of '94 or Gingrich Revolution refers to the Republican Party (GOP) success in the 1994 U.S. midterm elections,[1] which resulted in a net gain of 54 seats in the House of Representatives, and a pickup of eight seats in the Senate. The day after the election, Democratic Senator Richard Shelby of Alabama changed parties, becoming a Republican.

Rather than campaigning independently in each district, Republican candidates chose to rally behind a single national program and message fronted by Georgia congressman Newt Gingrich. They alleged Clinton was not the New Democrat he claimed he was during his 1992 campaign, but was a "tax and spend" liberal. The Republicans offered an alternative to Clinton's policies in the form of the Contract with America.[2]

Let me add my own recollections of the era. Bill Clinton won the election of 1992, and there was a strong consensus for national health care. Harry Truman had originally put the idea in play; Ted Kennedy argued for it for decades -- and almost everybody assumed that it would be a reality. Then, we got to see Hillary's political skill in action . . . .

Tip O'Neill was the Speaker of the House and he was famous for this aphorism: "All politics is local." Newt Gingrich, with a ton of help from Rush Limbaugh turned that upside down in 1994 and they effectively nationalized the election, with a nation wide campaign based specifically on attacking the arrogance and secrecy of the First Lady.

In my home state of Texas in 1994, our great Governor, Ann Richards, was up for re-election against George W. Bush. On election day, Richards had an approval rating of about 60% -- but Shrub beat her by about eight points as part of the Republican Revolution that was organized around attacking Hillary Rodham Clinton.