Discussing congressional Democrats' efforts to override President Bush's veto of a bill expanding the State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP), anchor Contessa Brewer asserted, during the October 15 edition of MSNBC Live, “It's interesting, even conservative Republican presidential candidates are trying to sidestep this issue. I was just thinking about last week when Mike Huckabee, who believes in fiscal restraint, was asked would he veto this SCHIP bill, and he did not want to answer that question. He didn't want to get nailed on this.” In fact, several of the leading Republican presidential candidates, all of whom call themselves “conservative” -- notably Sen. John McCain (AZ), Rudy Giuliani, Fred Thompson, and Mitt Romney -- have spoken in support of Bush's veto.

When she made the assertion that “Huckabee ... was asked would he veto this SCHIP bill, and he did not want to answer that question,” Brewer was apparently referring to the October 9 Republican presidential debate -- broadcast on CNBC -- during which MSNBC host and moderator Chris Matthews asked: “Would you have vetoed the bill -- the SCHIP?” Huckabee responded: “The president was caught in a tough political battle. The Democrats won the political battle. Unfortunately, the issue wasn't about children; the issue was about political posturing. And the reality is: You're going to create a huge problem for the Medicare advantage plan and shortfall that, and many of the kids who will be covered under the expanded SCHIP are people who already have insurance -- it'll be coming out of their insurance programs.” Pressed by Matthews, “But if you got there, would you have vetoed, Governor?” Huckabee said: “I'm not absolutely certain that that's going to be the right way because there are going to be so many issues we've got to fight. And the political loss of that is going to be enormous.”

But contrary to Brewer's assertion that “even conservative Republican presidential candidates are trying to sidestep this issue,” several Republican presidential candidates have reportedly expressed support for Bush's veto:

• During the October 9 debate, McCain criticized SCHIP and called on Bush to veto the legislation: “Another one he should veto is the SCHIP program, which he should say, 'Take the 'C' out of, because now it's for everybody, like every other entitlement program.' And, by the way, a dollar a pack increase for cigarettes? So we want to take care of children's health and we want everybody to smoke? I don't get it.” On August 2, McCain had voted against the legislation, which would have provided an additional $35 billion in funding over 5 years. In his floor speech prior to the vote, McCain said: “We will be spending billions and billions of dollars providing coverage for children who already have coverage, and I believe this is a dangerous step toward Government-run health care insurance.”

• In a September 21 entry, NBC News' First Read blog reported that Giuliani “said that he supports the president because [the bill Bush vetoed would allow] some states [to] expand coverage to families making 400 percent above the poverty level. 'We're going to take people off private insurance and put them on government insurance -- that's a disaster.' ”

• In an interview with The Kansas City Star's Prime Buzz blog, Romney was asked whether he would veto SCHIP. He responded: “Yeah. Yeah, I sure would. I'd veto it out of my belief that we should have every citizen insured. I put forward a plan in my state that gets every citizen insured. I put forward a program for the nation that gets every citizen insured.

• In an interview with Radio Iowa, Thompson reportedly said of the bill, “That's a classic example of a good idea and a good program that's working that's taken to a place that was never envisioned by the originators of the law,” adding, “Certainly children's health care insurance needs to be expanded and it can be done in different ways. ... The president himself proposes a way to be done through the tax code.”

From the 9 a.m. ET October 15 edition of MSNBC Live:

BREWER: Millions of kids -- American kids -- are at the center of a political fight that could help shape the 2008 presidential election. It started when President Bush vetoed legislation that would expand a children's health program. Well, now, Republicans are weighing their options. They can back Democratic attempts to override the veto later this week, or they can stick with the president, who says this bill was too expensive and that Democrats simply won't compromise.

HOUSE SPEAKER NANCY PELOSI (D-CA) [video clip]: The president has never talked about a compromise. He's -- a compromise to the president means -- in all due respect to him, and I have great, shall we say, respect for the president -- he's -- compromise to him means, “Do it my way.”

BREWER: Richard Wolffe is an MSNBC analyst and senior white house correspondent with Newsweek magazine. Richard, good Monday to you.

WOLFFE: 'Morning, Contessa.

BREWER: Are we seeing the president backtracking here when he's talking about a compromise?

WOLFFE: Not hugely. You know, the White House does want to get this issue off the table. Republicans do, they're feeling a lot pressure from members of Congress. But the kinds of compromises they've hinted at are maybe an extra $5 billion. The Democrats have written legislation that adds $35 billion, and they say they have come down from 50. So, you're not talking about a significant move towards a compromise.

BREWER: The House minority leader, John Boehner, defended the president's veto, and he said that people don't want government-run health insurance. But you put that up against millions of kids going without health insurance entirely, which one, which argument is going to resonate more with the American people?

WOLFFE: Well, the optics, as they say, are not good here. As you say, you've got the Republicans taking the line of spending restraints, always pretty unpopular. And the Democrats are saying they're out there for sick kids. So, it's a no-brainer in terms of the politics of it. And that's why I think you're seeing many Republicans, certainly in the Senate and also significant numbers in the House, moving towards the Democratic position. They don't -- the Democrats don't have enough votes currently in the House to override the veto, but they're getting close.

BREWER: You know, it's interesting, even conservative Republican presidential candidates are trying to sidestep this issue. I was just thinking about last week when Mike Huckabee, who believes in fiscal restraint, was asked would he veto this SCHIP bill, and he did not want to answer that question. He didn't want to get nailed on this. So, is it any surprise that some Republicans now would side with Democrats in trying to override the president's veto?

WOLFFE: It's not a surprise if they're up for election. And Huckabee, as a former governor, knows very well the importance of this program to individual states. Iowa, for instance, is one of the key states that could run out of money for this program as early as this month. So, you know, this is a crunch issue for these people, and yet, on the other side, they've got the core base of the party for these Republican candidates who say fiscal discipline first and foremost. So, it is a tough challenge for the candidates.

BREWER: Richard, great to talk to you. Thanks.

WOLFFE: Thanks, Contessa.