Dodd challenger Simmons says public option should be 'on the table'

Former Rep. Rob Simmons (R-Conn.), who is considered the top challenger to Sen. Chris Dodd (D-Conn.), last week said the public option should be "on the table."

Earlier today, though, Simmons applauded Sen. Joseph Lieberman (I-Conn.) for opposing the public option, which Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) included in the final version of healthcare reform legislation.

Appearing at the opening of a new Yale cancer hospital last week, Simmons was approached about his stance on the public plan by the New Haven Independent. The video was sent to The Hill by a Connecticut GOP strategist.

In the interview, Simmons said that Democrats had put the public option on the table as a matter of fact. He continued saying that he believes it should be on the table in the debate along with other issues important to Republicans such as tort reform and selling health insurance across state lines. 

Simmons also attacked Democrats for holding closed-door negotiations on the health bill merger, in which Dodd participated. Dodd formerly served as de facto Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) committee chairman during the late Sen. Ted Kennedy's (D-Mass.) absence due to illness.

Simmons' statement that the public plan should be on the table, though, could become controversial fodder for his GOP primary opponents. Simmons is locked in a competitive race against state Sen. Sam Caligiuri, former ambassador Tom Foley, former CEO of World Wrestling Entertainment Linda McMahon, and investor Peter Schiff.

Rough transcript:

Simmons: The public option, look everything is on the table. You can't have a public option on the table without tort reform, without issues relative to medical savings accounts and also negotiating for healthcare across state lines.
Interviewer: Should the public option be on the table?
Simmons: It is on the table. The Democrats have already put it on the table.
Interviewer: Would you support it?
Simmons: What I'm saying is, we need to add some of the other issues as well to make it (inaudible).
Interviewer: I know what some of the Blue Dog Democrats have suggested that. Would you support a public option?
Simmons: I support having everything on the table and having a full, complete debate. I would also support having more transparency in the process. That's something we absolutely do not have now.
[...]
Interviewer: Would you vote for a public option if it were coupled with tort reform?
Simmons: I think if we coupled it with tort reform we wouldn't need a public option.
Interviewer: That's still ducking the question

"Rob has been on the record strongly opposing the public option," said Simmons' campaign manager Jim Barnett. "In that video, Rob says that Republican ideas have been ignored."

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