Edwards complains about mailing

Spokeswoman calls union flier 'misleading'

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By Ed Tibbetts | Friday, December 21, 2007 1:28 AM CST | () comments

A union-sponsored mail piece targeting Barack Obama has raised a ruckus — with John Edwards.

Edwards says the mailer, sent out by the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, is an “underhanded trick” to make it look like he’s engaging in negative campaigning.

The mailer faults Obama’s health-care plan, calling it “more of the same,” and quotes Edwards saying “as many as 15 million Americans would be without coverage” if it’s implemented.

The flier says “Obama’s band-aid solution is no change at all.”

The line of attack is familiar. Both Edwards and Hillary Clinton have faulted Obama’s health-care plan. However, the union that sent the mailer is backing Clinton; it just used Edwards’ words to criticize Obama. Clinton’s name isn’t mentioned.

“There have been a lot of misleading tactics and tricks in the last few weeks, but we’ve just never seen anything like this before,” said Jennifer O’Malley Dillon, the Iowa director for Edwards. “It’s fine to have an honest debate about policy, but Iowans deserve better than planted questions and campaign fliers designed to fool them.”

Asked to comment, a Clinton spokesman referred a reporter to the union. An official there couldn’t be reached despite repeated attempts.

The argument in the filer centers on the most significant difference on health care among the top Democrats in the race, specifically whether it’s possible to cover all Americans without requiring individuals to buy insurance.

Clinton and Edwards have offered plans that have the requirement.

Obama would require children to be insured but not adults. He’s said he can achieve universal coverage without a mandate by offering more generous subsidies to bring down the cost.

Clinton and Edwards say he can’t, although it’s Clinton who has pressed the argument the most.

The Clinton campaign has cited the views of the Rand Corp., the Urban Institute and MIT economist Jonathan Gruber, while former Labor Secretary Robert Reich has said Obama’s plan would cover more people.

Other than the mandate, the plans by the Democrats are fairly similar. They build on the present employer-based system and blend it with more aggressive government regulation and subsidies.

The Obama campaign responded to the mailer Thursday by referring to statements earlier this year by AFSCME President Gerald McEntee, who expressed reservations about the individual mandate in the state of Massachusetts’ health-care law. He said costs were still too high for people to afford insurance.