Clinton jumps on veto in new ad

Hillary Clinton is joining the chorus of Democrats bashing President Bush's veto of a bill to expand a health insurance program for children, citing it in new ads to plug her healthcare plan.

The Clinton campaign said the 30-second television spot will start airing today in Iowa and New Hampshire, which will hold the first caucus and first primary, respectively.

The ad mentions her failed attempt to push universal healthcare coverage in 1993 and 1994 while first lady, plus her advocacy of the State Children's Health Insurance Program. Despite public support and support from some Republicans, Bush vetoed the bill, which would add about 3 million kids to the program at an additional cost of $35 billion over five years.

"Hillary stood up for universal healthcare when almost no one else would, and kept standing until six million kids had coverage," the announcer says in the ad. "So now that almost every candidate is standing up for health care for all, which one do you think will never back down?"

Clinton and her chief Democratic rivals have all proposed plans to cover all 47 million Americans without health insurance. Despite her failure as first lady on the issue, an ABC News/Washington Post poll released this week -- which showed her lead over Barack Obama had ballooned to 53 percent to 20 percent -- found that two thirds of Democrats trust her most among the presidential contenders on healthcare.

The Republican National Committee was quick to respond to Clinton, who is the clear front-runner for the Democratic nomination.

"What Hillary Clinton has stood behind is using federal coverage of children as a vehicle to realize her vision for government-run healthcare," spokesman Danny Diaz said in an email. "There is a very good reason Hillary Clinton stood alone on mandating government-run care, and as this election season progresses, she will once again find Americans rejecting her efforts to socialize medicine."