It appears that people paid attention to the strategy of the Corzine campaign when it came to the issue of mammograms. From Politico:
With women's health issues increasingly at the forefront of the health care debate, pols have turned breast cancer into a potent campaign weapon. The volume in the war has ramped up in recent weeks after a government task force released findings - widely criticized by women's groups - recommending that it was unnecessary for women under 50 to screen for breast cancer.
"It resonates with 52 percent of the electorate," said Jennifer Duffy, a senior editor for the Cook Political Report. "You can get yourself in a good bit of trouble being on the wrong side of the issue."
The focus on breast cancer signals a willingness on behalf of both parties to play political hardball on an issue typically outside the bounds of the campaign arena. While parties have clashed over abortion - another issue central to women's health concerns - the heated political rhetoric surrounding mammograms, experts say, is beyond the norm.
They pointed to the use of the issue in our very own race for Governor last cycle:
As early as this fall, with two governor's races up for grabs, Democrats had sought to turn the breast cancer issue against their Republican opponents. During the closing weeks of the New Jersey governor's race, Gov. Jon Corzine launched a full-bore TV assault accusing GOP rival Chris Christie of backing a health care policy that would not guarantee mammography coverage for women - a move that, at least temporarily, put the Republican on the defensive.
"No wonder why the insurance industry backs Christie's plan: Fewer mammograms. Bigger profits," one Corzine TV ad declared.
For Corzine, locked in a tough race, the strategy was straightforward: move the dial among women - a group of traditionally Democratic-leaning voters whose support Corzine was struggling to secure.
"I think it was effective in New Jersey," said Peter Woolley, executive director of the Farleigh Dickinson University Public Mind Poll, noting in the final month of the race Corzine jumped 6 percent among women on the question of whether he understood the needs of the average voter. "It clearly didn't move him enough, but it did help him with white women."
While it didn't move things enough for the Governor, there are additional factors that contributed to that. It remains to be seen whether the issue will have an impact in closer races where those additional problems that faced Corzine aren't in play. Either way, it appears mammograms are the latest political weapon.
I've caught this ad a few times being run by New Jersey Progress hitting Chris Christie over the mandate and mammogram issue:The ad features women talking about their personal experiences with mammograms and hits Christie's mandate-free proposal as only benefiting the insurance companies. Here is the documentation NJ Progress put out with their ad. Have you seen this in your area?
Here's a powerful new web ad out from the Corzine campaign responding to Christie's exchange with a breast cancer survivor and his categorizing the situation as an exception:
The Corzine campaign yesterday called out the Christie campaign for once again selectively editing their website to change their stance on issues. We first had this problem when the Christie campaign was "launching their new website" and they magically lost their "Shared Values" section of the site. I don't know what the excuse is this time, but now we're missing those magical words of his healthcare plan, "mandate-free". See the Christie campaign hasn't learned yet that the google is not their friend, because this thing called the cache actually keeps a record of the tracks you're trying to cover and hope people won't realize. Here's what the Christie campaign website said, along with a screenshot to back it up:
Offer "Mandate-Free" Policies. Insurance companies will be permitted to offer "mandate-free" policies. These policies might better fit the needs of some consumers who may not need extravagant benefits, such as young, single consumers.
Chris' plan will allow for insurance carriers to offer multiple plans in addition to a mandated plan so that people can pick and choose the type of affordable coverage the best fits their personal health care needs. Right now New Jersey has 45 mandates, which drive up the cost of health care plans and make it virtually impossible for some New Jerseyans to afford coverage. By allowing insurance carriers to offer multiple plans with different options, New Jerseyans currently priced out of the market and without insurance will now be able to afford a plan that works to fit their needs. Chris' plan will reduce the numbers of New Jerseyans currently without health insurance.
So at the same time he uses his mother and wife as props to help shield him and calls Governor Corzine a liar, his campaign is busy scrubbing any reference to the truth he doesn't want people to really see. Unfortunately for Christie, technology is still smarter than he and his campaign. Here's some of the stories his proposals have produced:
Associated Press: Christie's plan allows "insurers to offer mandate-free coverage...Two of the mandates involve mammograms." [AP, 10/4/09]
Star Ledger: Christie's plan "would allow any insurer to sidestep mandates, including the one requiring mammogram coverage for young women who have a family history of cancer." [Tom Moran, Star Ledger, 9/27/09]
Courier News: Christie advocates a "bare bones insurance policy that would eliminate many mandates...such as mammograms and prostate exams." [Rick Malwitz, Courier News, 9/23/09]
His real problem besides technology is that his policy proposal is so unpopular it's damaging his standing in the polls.
Assembly Majority Leader Bonnie Watson Coleman along with Assemblywomen Linda Greenstein and Pamela Lampitt joined breast cancer survivor Loretta Mikulski today yesterday to go after Chris Christie for his plans that would allow "mandate-free" policies, which they say would eliminate mammogram coverage in health care plans across New Jersey. They contrasted Christie's plans with the work that Governor Corzine has done:
"Governor Corzine and Democrats have fought to make health care more accessible and affordable for all New Jerseyans," said Lampitt. "Christie would reverse decades of progress using the Bush playbook as a guide to provide less health coverage for Americans and less accountability from insurance companies."
The Majority leader went further, talking about what she says Christie's plans would mean:
"Christie's plan would ultimately repeal state law that enables women under the age of 40 with a family history of breast cancer to receive mammograms paid for by their health insurers," said Watson Coleman. "In effect, Christie would be leaving millions of New Jersey women without any real health coverage. He is attempting to line the pockets of New Jersey's health care insurers at the expense of the health of millions of New Jersey women."
The Governor's campaign put out this video with a litany of other procedures that they say would not be covered under Christie's plans:For his part, the Governor kicked off national health care center week to tout the vital role of federally qualified health centers. They talking healthcare today.
