Politicization of this issue was inevitable. Candidates are always looking to make news and how better than to glom onto a topic that's already making headlines? Even Alabama's Republican gubernatorial candidates are talking about health care reform though none of them is currently in a position to do anything about it. It's a bit different on the Democratic side, where one candidate, Rep. Artur Davis, has both a voice and a vote in the current legislative process and one, Ag. Commissioner Ron Sparks, doesn't.
As you may recall, Davis voted against the health care reform bill in the House last Saturday night. Sparks is attempting to make him pay a political price for that vote, at least in the Democratic primary. Sparks said this in a written statement yesterday, emphasis mine:
"God bless the men and women who had the courage to address the evil discrimination in our healthcare system. Unfortunately, Artur Davis, who represents a congressional district that is one of the poorest in the nation, made it crystal clear that his interests and priorities lie in political gain and in the back pockets of big insurance companies, rather than in the hard working people of Alabama.
The healthcare vote was a defining moment for our country and those entrusted to represent our best interests, and Artur Davis has failed the people of Alabama miserably. Democrats across this state will assuredly find it difficult to trust his inflated rhetoric on other subjects now that he has betrayed them once again. Congressman Davis' silence has reverberated so loudly that I find it impossible to hear a word he says in the future.”
The Davis campaign also issued a press release yesterday, about an hour before Sparks', suggesting their opponent's new slogan should be “If you don’t agree with me today, I’ll say something different tomorrow.” The release included quotes and statements from Sparks supporting their assertion that he has not had a consistent position on health care reform (HCR). Emphasis mine.
“Ron Sparks can’t seem to control himself when it comes to consistency and saying the same thing to different groups,” said Davis campaign spokesman Alex Goepfert. “Alabama Democrats are right to ask: which Ron Sparks is for real, the man who assured business leaders he was opposed to the House health care legislation or the Sparks who warmly endorsed the bill on the day of the vote? Should they believe the Sparks who says we need a public option, or the Sparks who told the press in October that he ‘wouldn’t engage in speculation’ when asked if he would resist a public option if he became governor?"
Goepfert continued, “Does the Ron Sparks who pledges no new taxes on businesses understand that the House bill would threaten Alabama businesses with an 8% tax? Or does he think that Alabama Democrats won’t catch on to his shameless game? For a candidate who loves to say he can win in November, the Republicans would have a field day with the promises Sparks has already broken”
Follow me below the fold for what this really means.
After following these candidates and their statements for months, the controversy over health care reform -- both sides of it -- doesn't surprise me at all. Davis has been signalling for months that he disagreed with certain parts of the House bill and probably wouldn't vote for it. After getting his campaign off to a very slow start, Ron Sparks has been looking for some issue to both tarnish Davis and boost his image as a progressive Democrat. HCR was tailor made for him -- or it would have been if he hadn't wavered on the issue before the Business Council of Alabama on August 1st, saying he didn't support the current legislation (HR 3200 at that time) and commending Congress for "slowing this legislation down and not moving swiftly."
This is liable to get confusing. Let's introduce some chronological order to the discussion:
7/17/2009
HR 3200 passed out of House Ways and Means Committee. Includes public option. Davis votes for it saying he doesn't agree with all provisions but does not want to stop process.
7/31/09
Politico reports this statement from Davis: "I have wanted for seven years to vote for a bill that would improve the quality and availability of health care. But after analyzing this legislation for two weeks, I have come to the conclusion that the House bill is the wrong approach and unless it changes in a substantial way, it will not have my vote on the floor."
8/1/2009
Sparks tells BCA audience he doesn't support current legislation and commends Congress for slowing it down.
8/11/2009
Per the OA News, "If House Bill 3200 came to vote today, Artur Davis would send the controversial health care legislation back to Capitol Hill with a big fat “no.” “I’m certainly not for a system where individuals do not have the right to make private choice and I’m not for a system where the private sector disappears and the government is in the business of providing health care,” Davis, a Birmingham Democrat who represents Alabama’s Seventh Congressional District, told the Opelika-Auburn News Tuesday."
10/4/2009
According to the Tuscaloosa News, Sparks believes "it’s premature to comment on components of a bill that hasn’t been passed. ‘Speculation just adds to the confusion about this vital issue,’ he said.”
10/23/09
Sparks tells NAACP in Birmingham "I would fight for the public option, I would fight for health care, and I wish that I had a vote in Congress."
11/2/09
In a press release, Davis says "I am a supporter of health care reform who believes that the House leadership's approach is not the best we can do. Because we risk a disaster if we get this wrong, I will vote no on the House legislation and continue to root for a final bill that fixes the holes in our health care system and contains soaring costs in both the private and public sectors."
11/7/09
Ron Sparks wrote on his Facebook page, "I implore my Democratic opponent to do the right thing for the people of Alabama today by voting for healthcare and the public option. In a very short while, perhaps within hours, one of the most historic pieces of legislation will be voted on in the United States Congress. We must have a strong public option in our healthcare system so that we can have equal access for all."
11/7/09
Davis votes against HR 3962, which contains a public option, although not the "robust" one.
11/9/09
Dueling press releases continue.
So, Davis has been rock solid in a position most of us don't like. Sparks' statements, on the other hand, do lack consistency. He liked slow-walking the issue in August, thought comment/speculation was premature in early October, and came out in full-throated support of the public option in late October that continues to the present day. It would perhaps be kindest to say his position has evolved over time.
the debate back in August was "purely speculative" because the bill would change before the November vote, and that Sparks "is and remains" a champion for the public option."
Sparks "is and remains"a champion of the public option. Well, that's kind of the problem, you know. Where Sparks "is" is fairly clear, the question is will he remain there now and how and why did he get there from where he "was" in August? HR 3200 included a public option back in August, arguably a stronger one than HR 3962 has, so that isn't the "change" that changed Sparks' mind. What did? Political expediency, or some policy difference between the two bills?
With this array of statements on an issue people are actually paying some attention to, Ron Sparks has handed his opponent an opportunity to undermine one of his key strengths -- that Sparks is a known quantity. This is something Sparks touts in virtually every campaign speech: He's been twice elected to statewide office. He's been around for a while. Voters know him and can trust him.But suddenly Davis can point out that while voters know Ron Sparks the Ag. Commissioner, they don't know where Ron Sparks the gubernatorial candidate will be on a given issue from one day to the next. By extension, they don't know where Ron Sparks the Governor would be either, or when or how many times he might change his mind.
I think this situation is really dangerous for Sparks. He's running on a combination of gambling revenue, being a known/familiar quantity and leadership, and the conflicting health care statements imperil two of the three legs of his argument. They go directly to trust, which is a character issue that voters really do care about. A week before the recent Virginia gubernatorial race, Rasmussen found:
McDonnell is overwhelmingly trusted more than Deeds on both taxes and government spending. On the transportation issue, 45% trust McDonnell while 35% trust Deeds.
McDonnell won that race handily, 61% to 39%. As I said earlier, Ron Sparks had what looked like a tailor made issue in health care reform -- he knew Davis' position and could easily have run to the left of him on it all summer and fall. Instead, he came out with a couple of tepid statements early on that have not only undermined his ability to draw a clear contrast between himself and Davis, they can also be used to argue he's wishy-washy and inconsistent. This misstep argues that Sparks does not have a clear strategy to beat Davis, or at least that he did not have one in August.
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