An October 17 Politico article by Martin Kady II that discussed political strategy on the State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) expansion bill -- which President Bush vetoed on October 3 -- reported that "[t]he Democratic-controlled Congress has couched SCHIP in the context of children, and Democrats have come under fire for using kids in photo ops and press conferences to push the case." The article continued, “The Republicans, backed by the White House, have focused their strategy on money, saying the expansion is far too expensive and would extend the program well beyond its original intent of covering poor children.” Beyond his failure to explain what he found remarkable about Democrats' “couch[ing]” a children's health bill “in the context of children,” Kady also ignored a reported action by the office of Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) that went beyond “focus[ing] their strategy on money.” Specifically, as Media Matters for America noted, an October 16 article in The (Louisville) Courier-Journal reported that “McConnell's spokesman acknowledged yesterday that he alerted reporters last week to questions bloggers raised about the financial circumstances of a 12-year-old boy Democrats had used to urge passage of an expanded children's health insurance program.” Moreover, The Courier-Journal reported that “McConnell knew last week -- at a time when he was denying it -- that his staff had sent e-mails encouraging reporters to look into the background of a 12-year-old boy used by Democrats to support expansion of a health-care program.”

The 12-year-old boy, Graeme Frost, and his sister Gemma were injured in a 2004 car accident, and SCHIP covered the medical care they received for their injuries. Following Graeme's radio address on September 29, conservative bloggers aimed several attacks at his family, from questioning their financial status to referring to Graeme's parents, Bonnie and Halsey, as “mostly spoiled brats who became parents and never felt compelled to take responsibility for themselves.” Other media outlets began to echo or cite the bloggers' attacks. For example, on the October 10 edition of his nationally syndicated radio show, Rush Limbaugh argued that the Frosts “can clearly afford [health insurance]. They just choose not to.” During a report on the October 11 edition of CNN's American Morning, as the blog Think Progress noted, anchor John Roberts said of the controversy: “Conservative bloggers like Michelle Malkin pounced, claiming the Frost family is a fraud, too wealthy for government assistance. One accusation: that Graeme attends a $20,000-a-year private school. The family insists scholarships cover most of that bill." He added: “Some of the accusations may be exaggerated or false, but did the Democrats make a tactical error in holding up Graeme as their poster child?” Noting the controversy in an October 12 column headlined “Sliming Graeme Frost,” New York Times op-ed columnist Paul Krugman wrote:

You might be tempted to say that bloggers make unfounded accusations all the time. But we're not talking about some obscure fringe. The charge was led by Michelle Malkin, who according to Technorati has the most-trafficked right-wing blog on the Internet, and in addition to blogging has a nationally syndicated column, writes for National Review and is a frequent guest on Fox News.

The attack on Graeme's family was also quickly picked up by Rush Limbaugh, who is so important a player in the right-wing universe that he has had multiple exclusive interviews with Vice President Dick Cheney.

And G.O.P. politicians were eager to join in the smear. The New York Times reported that Republicans in Congress “were gearing up to use Graeme as evidence that Democrats have overexpanded the health program to include families wealthy enough to afford private insurance” but had “backed off” as the case fell apart.

In fact, however, Republicans had already made their first move: an e-mail message from the office of Mitch McConnell, the Senate minority leader, sent to reporters and obtained by the Web site Think Progress, repeated the smears against the Frosts and asked: “Could the Dems really have done that bad of a job vetting this family?”

Indeed, as Media Matters noted, in an October 8 post on ABCNews.com's Political Radar blog, senior political correspondent Rick Klein reported that McConnell's spokesman “declined to comment” on the charge “that GOP aides were complicit in spreading disparaging information about [the] Frosts.” Specifically, Klein reported a claim by Jim Manley, a spokesman for Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV), that a Senate GOP “leadership aide” had sent an email to reporters “summing up recent blog traffic about the boy's family.” The October 16 Courier-Journal article reported that Don Stewart, “Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell's spokesman acknowledged yesterday that he alerted reporters last week to questions bloggers raised about the financial circumstances of a 12-year-old boy Democrats had used to urge passage of an expanded children's health insurance program.” The article added: “But Don Stewart, the Kentucky Republican's communications director, said he also wrote a follow-up e-mail later the same day that said a blogger he respected had determined that there was no story and that 'the family is legit.' ” The article also reported that Stewart had briefed McConnell around October 11: “Stewart said McConnell did not know about any of his e-mails until he told the senator about them sometime around last Thursday.” However, in an October 12 television interview, McConnell said that "[t]here was no involvement whatsoever" from his staff -- “None,” as Think Progress noted.

An October 17 Courier-Journal article also noted the discrepancy between what McConnell said on October 12 and what the newspaper had reported about Stewart's briefing of McConnell around October 11.

From the Politico article, headlined “Dems show no signs of letting up on SCHIP”:

At its core, the SCHIP debate has reflected the clash of two competing strategies. The Democratic-controlled Congress has couched SCHIP in the context of children, and Democrats have come under fire for using kids in photo ops and press conferences to push the case.

The Republicans, backed by the White House, have focused their strategy on money, saying the expansion is far too expensive and would extend the program well beyond its original intent of covering poor children.

Stan Greenberg, a Democratic pollster, has conducted polls that show SCHIP is seen by most Americans as a health care issue, not a spending issue. David Winston, a Republican pollster, agreed that Democrats “made a strategic shift, and they found an issue where they have a significant lead.”

From the October 10 broadcast of Premiere Radio Networks' The Rush Limbaugh Show:

LIMBAUGH [quoting from an October 10 Baltimore Sun article]: “The Frost children depend on financial aid to attend private school, the Frosts say. In addition, Gemma receives money from the city for special education made necessary by her injuries. Halsey and Bonnie Frost say they still have no health insurance. Bonnie Frost said she priced coverage recently at $1,200 a month.”

Well, these people can clearly afford it. They just choose not to.

From the October 11 edition of CNN's American Morning:

ROBERTS: One week from today, Democrats will try to pull off a political rarity -- override a presidential veto. The battle is over an expansion of the Children's Health Insurance Program, and a 12-year-old activist has become the center of the story.

[begin video clip]

ROBERTS: Graeme Frost was left with severe brain injuries from a near-fatal car crash, but it hasn't stopped him from lobbying, working with Democrats to expand the State Children's Health Insurance Program, known as SCHIP. Democrats even picked Graeme to give their weekly radio address.

FROST: I don't know why President Bush wants to stop kids who really need help from getting CHIP. I just hope the president will listen to my story and help other kids to be as lucky as me.

ROBERTS: Conservative bloggers like Michelle Malkin pounced, claiming the Frost family is a fraud, too wealthy for government assistance. One accusation: that Graeme attends a $20,000-a-year private school. The family insists scholarships cover most of that bill. Some of the accusations may be exaggerated or false, but did the Democrats make a tactical error in holding up Graeme as their poster child?

UNIDENTIFIED ANALYST: I think in this instance what happened was the Democrats didn't do as much of a vetting as they could have done on this young man, his situation, and his family.

KING: Bloggers also posted the Frost family's home address, blurred here to protect their privacy, and yesterday on his radio show, Rush Limbaugh continued the attacks.

LIMBAUGH: Now, the dirty little secret is this: The Democrats put lies into the Frost kid's head, a 12-year-old kid being used, to advance a distortion and a lie.

ROBERTS: The Frost family refused to show their tax returns to a local reporter. Congressional observers point out that, regardless of which issue is being debated, these cut-throat tactics are part of a new and distasteful trend.

UNIDENTIFIED ANALYST: More and more Congress is acting less like a deliberative legislative body, and more like a political campaign. We've been seeing the politicization of every aspect of government.