The issue here is health care. Which candidate would you vote for?

Candidate No. 1.

    "I have great faith in the government of the United States. The
government has done a wonderful job of protecting the retirement of tens of
millions of senior citizens through Social Security, the most successful
public program in the history of governance. There are many other
tremendous government successes we should be celebrating every day. On the
health front we have Medicare, Medicaid and our incredible veteran's
hospitals. We also have the new prescription medicine program without which
thousands would certainly die every year. The only way to insure that the
citizens of this country have adequate health care is to make sure that the
same government that brought us Social Security, Medicaid and Medicare
brings us our everyday health care services. The private sector works fine
for things and services that people don't actually need. Essential
services, however, must be provided by government. Profits are OK for
non-essential goods and services. Nobody should make an obscene profit
caring for the health of our nation. In the first 100 days after my
election I will begin the process of nationalizing our health care and
health insurance industries. To be sure, it will be expensive. But there
are thousands of wealth people in this country who each year earn far more
money than they actually need. These millionaires owe a debt to the working
people of this country who have enriched them. Starting next January 20th,
I'll be the debt collector for the working class."

Candidate No. 2

    "I know that many of you are distressed over the cost of health
care, the cost of health insurance and the difficulty some of your fellow
citizens have in getting basic medical care. You have been told that the
solution is more government. The reality is that the solution is less
government. Since World War II our government has been involved in a
systematic and deliberate effort to thwart any attempt Americans might make
to become self reliant in terms of their own health care. Big-government
politicians have created a tax structure whereby your employer can get a
big tax write-off for providing you with insurance, but you get no tax
break if you buy that insurance policy on your own. The goal here has been
to compel you to rely on others for your health insurance rather than
yourself. Lobbyists have cajoled state legislatures to add expensive
"mandates" to insurance policies, often pricing those insurance
policies out of your reach. If, after all, you and your spouse have no
plans to procreate, why should you pay for maternity benefits? I understand
the power of the competitive free marketplace. Our history is full of
examples of explosions in innovation and customer service for many
industries when the government gets out of the way. For one example you
need look no further than the deregulation of the phone companies. As your
president I intend to use the proven power of the free market to make
health care more affordable and available to all Americans. No longer will
our tax code punish you for assuming the responsibility for your own
medical care. Under my reform plans you will be able to put aside thousands
of dollars every year, tax free, to cover your basic medical needs. This
will enable you to buy insurance policies; policies free of mandates;
policies tailored to meet your specific needs. These policies will be
substantially cheaper than those available to you today because of the
large deductibles your medical savings accounts will allow. History shows
when the government gets out of the way of the free marketplace the
consumers are the eventual winners. This would include consumers of health
care. I'm not interested in giving the government the power to control your
health care. I'll leave that desire to those who believe America is great
because of government. My goal will be to get the government out of the way
and unleash the power of the marketplace."

OK ... there you go. Two candidates; two messages. Care to cast a vote?

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