Earlier this week, Sen. Chuck Grassley, a conservative Republican from Iowa, offered Dems some advice. Grassley, one of the leading proponents of a bipartisan measure to expand the State Children’s Health Insurance Program (S-CHIP), said the majority party could keep bringing the children’s health legislation back up until Bush signed it or Republicans agreed to override the veto.
Apparently, Dems recognized this as a helpful tip.
…Democrats, and their Republican allies on the issue, made it clear that Bush’s veto will not be the last word. They said that they will keep coming back to the bill every six weeks to three months until the White House relents or Republican opposition collapses. (emphasis added)
“If the president refuses to sign the bill, if he says, with a veto, ‘I forbid 10 million children in America to have health care,’ this legislation will haunt him again and again and again,” said House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.).
In the short term, the bipartisan majority will pressure the White House to sign the bill into law. If (when) that fails, the majority will rally conservative hold-outs to override Bush’s veto. They already have the necessary votes in the Senate, which will shift all of the lobbying efforts onto a couple of dozen Republican lawmakers.
If (when) that fails, Dems and others advocates of children’s health have a message for opponents: Don’t get too comfortable; we’ll be doing all of this again.
More so than any other issue this year, Dems believe this is the one they can capitalize on. And unlike Iraq war measures, they can overcome Republican obstructionism and, hopefully, garner a veto-proof majority.
Rep. Chris Van Hollen (Md.), chairman of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, vowed to make Bush’s supporters pay a price at the polls next year, and he will have his share of targets. Republican Reps. Thelma Drake (Va.), Sam Graves (Mo.), John R. “Randy” Kuhl Jr. (N.Y.) and Joe Knollenberg (Mich.) all voted against the bill and are in the Democrats’ cross hairs. In total, the DCCC will be targeting 25 Republicans over the issue, said spokeswoman Jennifer Crider.
“Anyone who votes in lock step with the president and against children’s health, they are going to hear about it back home,” Van Hollen said.
Already, advocates are mounting advertising and grass-roots campaigns to pressure Republican supporters of the president. Two advertisements — one on television, another on the Internet — castigate Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) for standing against the program’s expansion. Sen. Charles E. Grassley (R-Iowa), a key backer, promised yesterday to mount his own campaign to persuade House opponents to change their position ahead of a vote to override a veto.
White House spokesman Tony Fratto said the bill’s opponents have nothing to fear. “Good policy is good politics, and if members stand on principle, they’ll be just fine,” he said.
Easy for Fratto to say; his boss won’t be on the ballot next year. What’s Mr. 28 Percent going to do, promise to campaign alongside every Republican lawmaker who blocks funding for children’s health?
If you happen to live in the one of the districts that’s going to be targeted, and you want to better understand the policy details before calling your representative’s office, Mark Kleiman reminded me of this great piece on S-CHIP that Jon Cohn wrote in May.
Stay tuned.