THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, July 13, 1994 TAG: 9407130362
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: GUY FRIDDELL
LENGTH: Medium: 66 lines
My regular readers - all two of you - remember that in the 1988 presidential race my hopes were pinned on Sen. Sam Nunn for the Democratic nomination and Sen. Robert Dole for the GOP nod.
Nunn lost his nerve and never got in the race; Dole lost his temper, and, in time, got out.
In New Hampshire in 1988, NBC's Tom Brokaw asked Dole whether he had anything to say to George Bush, who had won that night.
``Yeah,'' Dole said, ``tell him to stop lying about my record!''
His direct jab at Bush, whose TV ads had smeared Dole's views, delighted me, but it upset many.
It is painful to note now that in denouncing the Clintons, Dole is damaging his prospects for 1996.
Scenting blood with President Clinton suffering from old wounds, largely self-inflicted, Dole and other hyenas can't resist piling on the languishing lion - or hippo.
And, at last, Dole has mustered courage to go after Hillary. Not so long ago, as she wooed Kansas City in a workshop on health care, Dole seemed at his courtly best.
Now he is on the attack. Questioned on NBC by Brokaw, Hillary Rodham Clinton said it was ``only fair'' that Americans have health benefits as good as those enjoyed by Congress.
An enraged Dole accused her of taking ``a cheap shot'' at Congress. Nothing cheap about it. It was deftly done - and on target. And it stung because it is apt.
In a closed session, Dole even asked the Senate Finance Committee to take the extraordinary step of criticizing her publicly.
Rep. Newt Gingrich was asked on ``Meet the Press'' how he'd answer citizens who want such coverage.
``We don't have government health insurance. We buy it from Blue Cross-Blue Shield,'' he said.
``We're part of the private health insurance system of America, which is where I think we ought to stay. I think government insurance is a very bad idea.''
Gingrich said he thought he paid about $400 a month. Next day six Democratic senators refuted him at a news conference. He pays $101.25 a month for the Blue Cross standard option family plan, with the government picking up the rest of the premium, $303.77 a month, a 75-25 split.
He has been at the public trough so long he didn't know he was standing in it three-quarters of the way.
Sen. Harris Wofford, a Pennsylvania Democrat, noted that the plan, available to millions of federal employees, offers a model of how a reformed private health insurance system could work.
And Dole said he plans to offer to the health care bill an amendment requiring members of Congress, the president and the first lady to pay for coverage.
A White House spokesman said the first lady was mystified at Dole's anger because many in Congress have so argued.
Credit Hillary Clinton with having inspired, in one sentence, the minority leader to propose a major reform in health care.
It is well that members of Congress should be needs-tested first. ILLUSTRATION: Color photo
Robert Dole
by CNB