Clinton, Obama Mum on Stem Cell News

Politicians from the White House to Capitol Hill to the campaign trail were quick to weigh in on news of a potential breakthrough in ethical stem cell research announced Tuesday. The White House hailed the result as a vindication of the president's decision to allow Federal funding of embryonic stem cell research only on stem cell lines created before August 9, 2001. Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA), a longtime proponent of embryonic stem cell research, issued a statement that was less optimistic. Republican presidential candidates Gov. Mitt Romney and Sen. Fred Thompson also issued statements praising the result of the research into ethical stem cell alternatives. But all of their Democratic counterparts remained silent.

Lesser candidates like Sen. Joe Biden and Gov. Blll Richardson, who might have used the announcement as a way to draw attention to their campaigns, issued no press releases or statements about the result. Frontrunners Sen. Hillary Clinton and Sen. Barack Obama also have yet to make any comment, official or unofficial, mentioning stem cells since Tuesday's announcement. Why the silence from the two top Democratic presidential hopefuls? A quick look at their voting histories provides an answer.

In March of this year, Sen. Norm Coleman (R-MN) introduced the HOPE Act in the Senate. It passed the Senate on April 11th by a vote of 70-28. Three of the four Democratic presidential candidates who are Senators voted on the bill. Sen. Joe Biden voted in favor, Sen. Chris Dodd did not vote. But Sen. Clinton and Sen. Obama voted no.

The stated purposes of the Hope Offered through Principled and Ethical Stem Cell Research, or HOPE, Act are to:

(1) intensify research that may result in improved understanding of or treatments for diseases and other adverse health conditions; and

(2) promote the derivation of pluripotent stem cell lines without the creation of human embryos for research purposes and without the destruction or discarding of, or risk of injury to, a human embryo or embryos other than those that are naturally dead.

In other words, the HOPE Act's purpose is to support and promote the very same kind of research that resulted in the breakthrough announced Tuesday. Yet, Sen. Clinton and Sen. Obama voted against funding this type of research.

For the other Democratic candidates, their silence on the ethical research results of this week may be because they are looking for a way to appear to praise the results while not offending embryonic stem cell advocates amongst their supporters. For Sen. Clinton and Sen. Obama, however, no such triangulation is possible on this issue. If either of them now comes out in favor of this type of research or praises the results, they will expose themselves to charges of flip-flopping and hypocrisy. It is more politically expedient for them to remain silent.

The HOPE Act is not yet law. It is currently sitting in the House Committee on Energy and Commerce. So, Sen. Clinton and Sen. Obama could well claim that their votes on the Act haven't prevented anything. But their votes do explain their thinking on the issue. Neither can reasonably claim to be genuinely pleased by Tuesday's announcement. After all, had their votes on ethical stem cell alternatives won the day back in April of this year, research like that which resulted in the most exciting advancement in the field to date might never have taken place.