Clinton et al. thought they could devise their own plan and then ram it down Congress' throat. Their naivete on this count was awesome.
If there was a betrayal in this realm, I'd say it comes from their premise that you could fix health care without destroying the health insurance industry. You really can't. If you're not willing to bite that bullet, you are better off doing salami tactics (i.e., extend insurance to children in poverty, then keep juking up the age and income limits). That's what the Dems are about now, though I think this task is greatly complicated, to put it mildly, by a public commitment to "smaller government."
mbs
> I always figured that Clinton was simply learning. He may have
> been the hottest politician in Arkansas, but he was in a pond about
> 40 times bigger as president. And he had to learn the political terrain.
> Meanwhile (IMHO) not only were the Republicans in Congress, the 'think
> tanks', etc. gunning for him, but the Democratic Congressional 'barons'
> didn't think much of him, either. Remember that his first budget passed
> not only with no Republican votes, but with a few defecting Democrats.
Barry