The Herald, Sharon, Pa.

Local News

March 6, 2010

ANALYSIS: Dahlkemper’s health care opinion is hot topic

By Nick Hildebrand

U.S. Rep. Kathy Dahlkemper’s ears must be burning. It seems everyone is talking about her, or at least her vote on health care reform.

Mrs. Dahlkemper, the freshman congresswoman from Erie who represents most of Mercer County, has staked out an interesting place for herself as one of a dozen pro-life Democrats who can save or sink the party’s signature issue.

Mrs. Dahlkemper topped the Web site politico.com’s “10 People Who Could Decide Health Care” and was name-checked in a host of stories last week about the battle to pass or kill the legislative strategy that is the last best hope to pass health care reform.

Mrs. Dahlkemper is one of the so-called “Stupak 12” who hinged their support of the original House bill on the amendment advanced by Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., that would bar federal money from subsidizing any health insurance that includes coverage for abortion.

The problem, for Mrs. Dahlkemper and others in the House, is a slight difference in the anti-abortion amendment included in the Senate bill that the House would have to approve for reconciliation to go forward. Abortion foes say the Senate’s amendment is weaker and would ultimately result in taxpayer-financed abortion.

While Mrs. Dahlkemper campaigned as a supporter of health care reform and made an impassioned plea on the House floor in July, citing access as the problem that demanded action from Washington, she’s made it clear since the House acted in November that the key issue for her is abortion.

Her office confirmed that recently when her spokeswoman said that Mrs. Dahlkemper could not support the Senate’s language “period.”

That stance may not please the White House or House Democratic leaders but for Mrs. Dahlkemper, who is running for re-election this year, it’s a smart play. The 3rd district leans Democratic but went for McCain in 2008, largely because of the region’s cultural conservatives.

It’s the kind of district that Republicans are looking to reclaim the majority in the House they lost in 2006 and the key issue they will be pushing is health care. Any candidate who backs the reconciliation strategy is going to be accused of “ramming health care reform down the throat of the American public.”

The support of Republicans who were disenchanted with former Rep. Phil English was key to Mrs. Dahlkemper’s 2008 victory but the base of her support was the district’s Democrats, many of whom still support health care reform.

The ground Mrs. Dahlkemper is staking out allows her to tell those base voters that she supports health care reform and did her best to see it become law by voting for the initial House bill, but couldn’t support the final bill because it violates her deeply held pro-life principles, principles that she made clear in her initial run for office.

It’s a win-win for Mrs. Dahlkemper that will make it hard for the Republicans running against her to get traction on the political issue of the year.

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