The Clinton campaign for health-care reform: epistemology in a populist rhetoric

Abstract

During his campaign for office and early presidency, Bill Clinton based his political messages upon populist themes, describing a model of political action that was founded upon the notion of popular sovereignty. When he began to promote the Health Security Act in September 1993, the president extended his populist approach beyond mere oratory to develop a truly populist model of legislative process, whereby the public would investigate legislative options and participate via messages to Congress in an informal policy referendum. Clinton's implicit theory of rhetoric contained a mistaken and naive assumption: that he could control public sentiment, forcing Congress to pass specific legislation. This conflict became evident in Clinton's reaction when popular opinion turned against health-care reform. Because he failed to reconcile his competing commitments to populism and reform, Clinton lost his sense of the public will, lost his credibility in the health-care debate, and lost his best chance to achieve meaningful health-care reform.