Beware of making a big deal of flip-flops during a campaign; it can come back to haunt you. That’s the message from bloggers Mark A.R. Kleiman and Nathan Newman, who each use the Bush administration’s record on the question of “patients’ bill of rights” legislation to sling some sandals.
At issue is Monday’s Supreme Court decision limiting the right to sue managed care companies. As governor of Texas, George Bush allowed a strong patients’ bill of rights to become law in 1997. Three years later during the 2000 campaign, he touted the Texas law as a model for the country. However, when a challenge to that very law arrived at the Supreme Court this year, the Bush administration joined with two managed-cared companies in opposing the law.
Newman writes: “You’d expect Bush to have lept to the defense of the law he proudly cited as a model, and [to have] expressed outrage at a lower court interfering with state power with the heavy hand of federal government. You’d be wrong.”
Kleiman spends considerable time asking whether the Bush about-face represents a “flip-flop” or a “straddle” or both. Here’s his play-by-play of the gymnastics: “The president has executed a straddle to a flip-flop to a double straddle to a lie. The sequence of moves has a degree of difficulty of 2.8. DO NOT TRY THIS AT HOME.”
Newman calls the maneuvers a bit differently. “This switch couldn’t be because of this list of health care CEO Pioneers — bundlers of $100,000 or more in contributions — could it?”
As regular Campaign Desk readers know, we’ve OD’ed on the veepstakes stargazing, but Kevin Drum does offer up a handy analysis of why ultimately the choice is important: Of the last 12 vice presidents, five have gone on to serve as commander-in-chief.
Speaking of bloggers, E-Media Tidbits reports that the Associated Press’ veteran political correspondent Walter Mears and colleague Nancy Benac will be blogging from both the Democratic and Republican conventions. This is a first for AP.
Given Mears’ credentials (a Pulitzer Prize, for example), we’re taking it on faith that his “running commentary, insight, and news tidbits” will be a bit more enlightening than the Democrats’ new convention-focused blog, called the BostonDparty. If nothing else, at least Walter would never subject us to a Fudgie the Whale cake.
–Susan Q. Stranahan
Susan Q. Stranahan wrote for CJR.