Health reform's reality vs. its parody

By E.J. Dionne Jr.
WashPost
Monday, October 4, 2010

Here is another piece of conventional wisdom about this year's election that is being rendered patently false. It's been said over and over that no Democrats are running on the health-care bill. Actually, more and more of them are proudly campaigning on what the plan has achieved -- and they should.

In a fight for his political life in Wisconsin, Sen. Russ Feingold went on the air last week with an advertisement that explicitly defends provisions in the bill and attacks his opponent, Republican Ron Johnson, for wanting to repeal it.

The ad portrays two Wisconsin residents telling Johnson: "Hands off my health care." Their message is that repealing the health-care law would, as another voter says, "put insurance companies back in control."

Feingold's is one of the more powerful ads about the bill, but his isn't the only one. In an ad that focuses on holding corporations accountable, Rep. Steve Israel of New York touts the bill for stopping insurance companies from denying coverage because of preexisting conditions. In Nevada, Rep. Dina Titus has a TV ad praising the same provision.

(More here.)