By Jonathan E. Kaplan and Mike Soraghan, The Hill
October 17, 2007

Emboldened by new polling data, Democrats will press on in criticizing Republicans who support President Bush’s veto of a bill to expand a children’s health insurance program.

Some centrist Republicans could pay a political price for voting on Thursday to sustain Bush’s veto of a five-year, $35 billion expansion of the State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP), according to new polling conducted by the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) and obtained by The Hill.

One poll found that 42 percent of voters are “very convinced” to vote against their Midwestern centrist Republican congressman, Rep. Kenny Hulshof (Mo.) when told that he “voted to keep 10 million kids from getting health insurance, including 100,000 from his own state” while keeping his “government health insurance.”

Nineteen percent found the argument “somewhat convincing.”

Another survey of a congressional district in a Southern state found that opposing the SCHIP reauthorization “raised doubts” about the GOP incumbent lawmaker, Rep. Thelma Drake (Va.), for 66 percent of voters.

Democratic campaign officials also said the issue polled well in Massachusetts’s 5th congressional district, where Niki Tsongas and Jim Ogonowski competed in a special election on Tuesday to fill former Rep. Marty Meehan’s (D) seat.

“Republicans who continue to support President Bush instead of the healthcare for America’s kids will be held accountable,” a Democratic campaign strategist said. “No issue better crystallizes how out of touch Republicans are with their districts than their opposition to children’s healthcare.”

Republicans who plan to sustain Bush’s veto emphasized that they wanted to reauthorize the program, but were opposed to the current bill.

“There has to be some area of common ground,” Hulshof said. “I’m willing to find consensus, but first [Democratic leaders] have to reopen the bill. I want to reauthorize the program.”

Said Drake, “I support the program, but not this bill. I am not changing my vote.”

Bush has called for a five-year, $5 billion increase, but $14 billion is needed to preserve coverage for the 6.6 million children currently covered. Drake did not say whether the $14 billion figure was acceptable, saying she had not had time to focus on the policy.

“It’s unfortunate [Congress] spent an extra two weeks on this bill,” she added.

Other Republicans are concerned about the political cost the debate over SCHIP could have in November 2008.
“What will happen is they’ll lose the override. They’ll make cosmetic changes and our guys will cave,” Rep. Tom Davis (R-Va.) said Tuesday during an appearance at the National Press Club. “And at what cost? Our guys will get beaten up … SCHIP is a dumb fight.”

Meanwhile, a post-veto strategy has not emerged. Democratic aides said House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) was not discussing options and was focusing on insuring 10 million children. Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) said on Tuesday that they were unwilling to compromise.

“No. No. No. We have negotiated,” Reid said when asked if he would seek a compromise if the attempt to override Bush’s veto fails. “There is no more to compromise.”

Reid did say, however, that he would be willing to “tweak” the bill “if the president wants to save face, to show what he has done is outrageous, yes.”

House Democratic Caucus Chairman Rahm Emanuel (Ill.) said Democrats would score more than the 265 votes they received when the House voted last month on the Senate’s version of the bill, but there were no discussions about a post-veto strategy at Tuesday’s weekly caucus meeting.

“I don’t allow questions like that,” Emanuel quipped, meaning he would not entertain questions about failure.

Centrist GOP Reps. Jo Ann Emerson (Mo.) and Mike Castle (Del.) told fellow moderate Republicans at the weekly Tuesday Group luncheon that they would introduce a compromise bill.

“We want to put a proposal on the table,” Emerson said.

Theirs staffs are reviewing various proposals, including legislation that would streamline the SCHIP enrollment process, help states to cover eligible children and offer a tax credit for families who do not qualify for Medicare or SCHIP to purchase health insurance.

Jackie Kucinich and Manu Raju contributed to this story.