Back in early January, John Edwards put a spotlight on Nataline Sarkisyan, a murder-by-spreadsheet victim who had just died because an insurance company refused to authorize treatment for her leukemia.
In the final debate before New Hampshire, Edwards raised Nataline's case as an illustration of the importance of fighting against corporate power. He then spoke about his work in the U.S. Senate to help pass the patient's bill of rights -- legislation that George Bush and the GOP eventually blocked.
Amazingly, Hillary Clinton launched into an unprovoked attack on Edwards. To some, it seemed as if she was blaming Edwards for Nataline's death. If she wasn't, she came damn close.
Here's what Clinton said:
CLINTON: You know, Senator Edwards did work and get the patient bill of rights through the Senate -- it never got through the House. One of the reasons that Natalie (sic) may well have died is because there isn't a patient's bill of rights. We don't have a patient's bill of rights.
The very next day, Edwards held a town hall event with the Sarkisyan family. Once again, the Clinton campaign launched an unprovoked assault on Edwards, accusing him of exploiting a tragedy for political gain.
Edwards: No Conscience in Clinton Campaign
KEENE, N.H. – John Edwards angrily took on Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton at two news conferences in a row on Sunday, saying that her campaign “doesn’t seem to have a conscience.”
Mr. Edwards was responding to a comment from Jay Carson, Mrs. Clinton’s spokesman, who suggested that “the references in Senator Clinton’s speeches are about people she has actually helped and changes she has actually made, not stories she’s pulled from the newspaper and included in her stump,” Mr. Carson wrote in an E-mail message.
Mr. Carson’s comment was in reference to an emotional town hall event Mr. Edwards held in Manchester early Sunday afternoon, featuring an appearance by the parents of Nataline Sarkisyan, a 17-year-old leukemia patient who died in December after her insurance company denied her a liver transplant. Mr. Edwards had recently incorporated the story into his stump speech as a criticism of insurance companies.
The town hall with the Sarkisyans actually highlighted the core problem with health care in America: our system of private insurance.
Clinton's story, on the other hand, put at least as much blame on the front-line providers as it did on the system, in the process placing the focus on the wrong part of the system.
Note @ 12.38pm: I've updated this post with the material from the debate.
© Jed Lewison