How an Unpopular Health Care Plan Became Law

Written By: Philip Klein
Publication date: 10/30/2010

Advocates of greater government control over health care had fifteen years to figure out why they failed to pass a national healthcare reform bill during President Clinton’s administration. After the Democratic Party retook control of Congress in 2006 and won the White House in 2008, liberal think tanks and advocacy groups and their media supporters began crafting a political strategy to achieve their long-sought goal.

In one sense, this effort failed. Despite spending tens of millions of dollars on advertising and activism during 2009-2010, they were unable to convince the American people that Obamacare was a good idea. Still, these activist organizations played a key role in the enactment of the most ambitious social welfare program since Lyndon Johnson’s Great Society. How they did it is a story worth understanding.

Co-opting Industry Groups

Critics pointed out the Clinton administration failed because it was blindsided by industry groups that mounted a well-funded public relations campaign against “Hillarycareâ€