A Healthy Election
Super Tuesday was no doubt less than super for the health of some candidates' campaigns.
But with huge turnouts at the polls, democracy is alive and kicking. A presidential race that many think keeps ending with each coming primary, keeps going. The driving force changes from person to person and candidate to candidate, but health is still strongly in the mix.
The economy has been driving people to the polls for both parties, but for Democrats, health care seems to be a bigger component of that equation, and of those people, more of them voted for Sen. Hillary Clinton than Sen. Barack Obama, according to Tuesday's exit polls.
But here's something to remember: As much as the economy drives people to the polls, the reality is that the president, any president, has marginal impact on the economy at large. They get blamed for it when it's bad, or take credit for it when it's good, but they often can't really do a lot to control it from the oval office.
But health care, now that's a bellwether issue. That's not to say that the next president will be able to change the health care system to suit everyone. But where a candidate stands on health care can tell you a lot about that candidate's values, what they find important, and yes, how they think about economics and where they place resources, remembering that economics is a social science. It's all about the people.
Of course, you can find out where the candidates stand on health care in this election, how they compare, and how they differ, in our special, "Health Matters in the 2008 Election."
More and more, it's starting to seem that who you vote for may be one of the most important health care decisions you make this year.
Sean Swint
Executive Editor, WebMD
But with huge turnouts at the polls, democracy is alive and kicking. A presidential race that many think keeps ending with each coming primary, keeps going. The driving force changes from person to person and candidate to candidate, but health is still strongly in the mix.
The economy has been driving people to the polls for both parties, but for Democrats, health care seems to be a bigger component of that equation, and of those people, more of them voted for Sen. Hillary Clinton than Sen. Barack Obama, according to Tuesday's exit polls.
But here's something to remember: As much as the economy drives people to the polls, the reality is that the president, any president, has marginal impact on the economy at large. They get blamed for it when it's bad, or take credit for it when it's good, but they often can't really do a lot to control it from the oval office.
But health care, now that's a bellwether issue. That's not to say that the next president will be able to change the health care system to suit everyone. But where a candidate stands on health care can tell you a lot about that candidate's values, what they find important, and yes, how they think about economics and where they place resources, remembering that economics is a social science. It's all about the people.
Of course, you can find out where the candidates stand on health care in this election, how they compare, and how they differ, in our special, "Health Matters in the 2008 Election."
More and more, it's starting to seem that who you vote for may be one of the most important health care decisions you make this year.
Sean Swint
Executive Editor, WebMD
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