Sharp Exchange on CNN's Late Edition May Signal Change in Democrats' Tone--Gloves coming off

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Sharp Exchange May Signal Change in Democrats' Tone

BY JOSH GERSTEIN
July 23, 2007

URL: http://www.nysun.com/article/58890

An unusually sharp exchange among the leading Democratic presidential campaigns could signal that the often courtly tone of the race thus far is about to give way to a more confrontational, negative approach. In a television interview billed as a preview of tonight's debate in South Carolina, the campaign manager for John Edwards, David Bonior, called Senator Clinton's record on health care issues "an absolute disaster."

Minutes later, an Alabama congressman speaking for Senator Obama of Illinois, Rep. Artur Davis, said rather directly that a vote for Mrs. Clinton would resurrect the disputes that tarred the presidency of her husband, President Clinton. "It's past time to take the gloves off on the Democratic side," a professor of politics at the University of Virginia, Larry Sabato, said. "It's amazing that we've made it so far without seeing more of it."

The first punch on CNN's "Late Edition" yesterday was thrown by Mr. Bonior. He interrupted a former Iowa governor representing Mrs. Clinton, Thomas Vilsack, to challenge his claim that the former first lady had "delivered" on health care by spearheading efforts to put children on government-funded insurance.

"With all due respect … the Clintons did not deliver on health care," Mr. Bonior said. "They had a very important choice to make back in '93: whether to do the North American Free Trade agreement or health care. They implemented the North American Free Trade Agreement that put literally millions of workers out of work in this country and destroyed, basically, our good trading relationships we had around the world. And then in the interim, they lost any capital they had to get health care passed. … The fact of the matter is it's been an absolute disaster on health care."

The intensity of the double-barreled attack on both trade and health care seemed to take Mr. Vilsack by surprise. The Iowa governor responded by suggesting that Mrs. Clinton's accomplishments outshined any of her rivals. "I've seen the impact and effect of the health-care work that Hillary Clinton did in terms of the children's health insurance program. That is real. That is real relief to families that matters," Mr. Vilsack said. The back-and-forth gave Mr. Davis an opening to paint his candidate as an antidote to what some call Clinton fatigue.

"The last exchange you've heard is exactly why Barack Obama's candidacy is so important. We've just spent two minutes arguing about who did what in 1993," Mr. Davis said. "Democrats will not win the election in 2008 if we are frozen in an argument about who did what in 1993, who did what between 1993 and 2001. That's a stale argument for a lot of people. As much as I admire the Clintons, people are hungering for a new discussion in this country, and they want to look forward."

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