Health Care Largely Absent From Most Recent GOP Debate
Eight Republican presidential candidates on Wednesday participated in a debate in St. Petersburg, Fla., sponsored by CNN and YouTube that "passed without any questions about health care," the San Francisco Chronicle reports (Garofoli, San Francisco Chronicle, 11/29).
During the debate, moderated by CNN anchor Anderson Cooper, the candidates answered some of the almost 5,000 questions submitted through YouTube (Reinhard/Klas, Miami Herald, 11/29). An analysis of the first 3,000 questions submitted found that 15% focused on health care (California Healthline, 11/28).
According to the New York Times, "there was no discussion of health care proposals" during the debate, but the candidates "managed to illuminate some of their differences" on the issue during a discussion on immigration (Cooper/Santora, New York Times, 11/29).
Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney criticized former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani for his efforts to challenge a federal law that requires employees to report undocumented immigrants who seek emergency health care and other services (Miami Herald, 11/29).
Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, Rep. Duncan Hunter (Calif.), Sen. John McCain (Ariz.), Rep. Ron Paul (Texas), Rep. Tom Tancredo (Colo.) and former Sen. Fred Thompson (R-Tenn.) also participated in the debate (Milligan/Helman, Boston Globe, 11/29).
CNN video and expanded coverage of the debate are available online. A transcript of the complete debate also is available online (CNN, 11/28).
Meanwhile, PBS' "Charlie Rose" on Tuesday included a discussion with McCain that included comments on health care (Rose, "Charlie Rose," PBS, 11/27). Video of the segment is available online.