Historic Iowa caucus highlights GOP's ideological divide
Few voters considered health care a top concern when voting
Topics: Health Care Reform, Market Trends, Strategy
January 04, 2012
Mitt Romney defeated Rick Santorum by a mere eight votes in Tuesday's Iowa caucuses, setting the stage for a continuing ideological battle among GOP presidential candidates on major issues like health care.
The close results—which had Ron Paul finishing in third—give the candidates even more reason to highlight their opposing views in hopes of separating themselves from their competition.
For example, Santorum on Tuesday told ABC News that Romney had "basically the same" health care views as President Obama. Critics of Romney have said that the federal overhaul is based on Massachusetts' health care reforms, which the former governor signed into law.
"This has been a debate about health care—that's … the behemoth of government—the signature issue is ObamaCare," Santorum said. "We cannot put up a presidential candidate who is in basically the same place as Obama on government-run health care."
Despite the health care jabs, however, an Associated Press poll of Iowa caucus-goers showed that few cited health care as their top concern. Overall, about one-third of those surveyed said they were most concerned with finding a candidate who could defeat President Obama (Rutenberg, New York Times, 1/4; Baker, "Healthwatch," The Hill, 1/3; Tumulty, Washington Post, 1/3; AP/Google News, 1/3).
You May Also Like
-
On-Demand Webconference
| Health Care Advisory Board
Hear leading experts on Congressional procedure, appropriations, and financing assess how the politics of reform will play out in the 112th Congress.
More from the Daily Briefing
View all
