Tom Latham (IA-04) is Iowa’s longest-serving current member of the House of Representatives, but he has kept a low profile for most of his 16 years in Congress. You don’t see him on television or hear him on the radio nearly as often as his Republican colleague Steve King (IA-05). According to statistical analysis by the GovTrack website, Latham is a rank-and-file Republican who has sponsored few major bills.  

Last Friday, Latham stepped out of character to introduce broad-ranging health care reform legislation. A few thoughts about the substance and strategy behind this move are after the jump.

Latham’s “Common Sense Health Reform Americans Actually Want Act” is a Republican blueprint to replace the Affordable Care and Patient Protection Act, which Congress approved and President Barack Obama signed in March 2010. Latham’s bill has no chance of becoming law as long as Democrats control the U.S. Senate and/or Barack Obama is president. Some of the “common sense” ideas would be merely ineffective (tort reform to limit medical malpractice claims), while others would be disastrous (allowing health insurers to sell policies across state lines). Whether or not “Americans actually want” what’s in this bill, it’s an important statement of principles for Republicans and has a chance of passing the House.

It’s also a departure for Latham. During the 12 years he served in a GOP-controlled House of Representatives, I don’t ever remember him introducing a highly publicized bill that cleared the chamber.

Latham typically doesn’t promote himself much, but he spread the news about his health care reform plan far and wide last week. He discussed his vote to repeal Obamacare and his alternative on a popular WHO radio program in Des Moines. He sent out two separate press releases containing key points of his bill. He also posted two YouTube videos about health care reform as well as a half-dozen tweets on the issue. Unlike some members of Congress, Latham’s not a frequent social media user; during all of 2010 he posted fewer than three dozen updates to his Twitter account.

IowaPolitics.com posted Latham’s January 21 press release here. In contrast to Republicans who have said there was nothing good in the Democratic-backed health care reform law, Latham emphasizes that his bill

would retain the common-sense features recently enacted into law that received broad support among citizens and lawmakers. Retained provisions include requiring coverage for pre-existing conditions in children, allowing dependents to stay on their parents’ policies until age 26, prohibiting annual and lifetime benefit limits and preventing insurers from unjustly canceling policies.

That’s quite different from Steve King’s message. King said last week that Congress should not address pre-existing conditions, leaving regulation of insurance coverage up to the states.

Loudly offering an alternative to “Obamacare” while embracing some of its popular features may be a good political strategy for Latham. In 2012, I expect him to run in the redrawn district containing Polk County (Des Moines and most suburbs). A race against Representative Leonard Boswell or some new Democrat in a swing district may be more attractive to Latham than a GOP primary against King in a staunch Republican district. But winning a swing district requires a more moderate image than King’s.

Latham’s lifetime “progressive score,” according to the Progressive Punch database, is only barely higher than King’s. Iowa’s two House Republicans voted the same way on almost every major bill while Democrats controlled the chamber. Since Republicans now control which bills come up for a vote, and House Speaker John Boehner is one of Latham’s best friends, Latham will almost certainly continue to be a reliable vote for the Republican agenda, even if he uses slightly more moderate talking points to explain his position.

That said, Latham could try to build a moderate reputation by crossing the aisle every once in a while. At the end of the last Congress, he surprised me by supporting the Healthy, Hunger Free Kids Act. Latham was one of just 17 House Republicans to vote for that child nutrition bill. Some conservatives like Rush Limbaugh had depicted the bill as a sinister attempt to give government (rather than parents) control over what kids eat.

Share any thoughts about Latham’s career, health care reform, or the 2012 Iowa Congressional races in this thread.