CHEVY CHASE, Md. George W. Bush has come up with a new one, requiring the establishment of a new category of campaign babbling that might be called the politics of condescension.
Not daring to attack an important initiative by Al Gore on an issue that hits 10 million American families every year - mental illness - the Texas governor let it be known that he ''appreciates'' the vice president's move. To give a nice twist to his condescension, he made clear that he ''appreciates'' Tipper Gore's involvement as well.
His campaign pointed out that the proposal the Gores made resembles 31 state laws in the crusade to give serious mental illness ''parity'' in insurance coverage with other diseases and that one of those laws, in Texas, was ''signed'' by Bush - another astonishing attempt by Bush to claim credit for legislation originated and fought for by others.
Behind this junk, however, lies the fact that Governor Bush does not support what the vice president advocates. Bush isn't aboard this bipartisan bandwagon for two reasons - business and ideology. Big Insurance and its Big Employer allies have the false belief that discrimination against the mentally ill saves them money, and Bush's conservative ideology opposes expansion of insurance coverage via any mechanism other than tax credits that block that expansion for all save the already comfortable.
The result leaves Gore with an opening for what might be called the politics of advocacy. Because of Bush's commitment to cutting the top income tax rates and the huge revenue implications, his campaign is silent on scores of domestic issues which moderate Republicans typically support. Mental health is a classic case in point.
As Tipper Gore notes, about one in five Americans experiences the symptoms of one of the major mental illnesses each year, but more than two-thirds of them get no treatment. More specifically, 8 million people each year (3 million of them children) suffer acute manifestations of these illnesses, and insurance industry discrimination is at the root of nontreatment. Like all discrimination it is pound foolish, given the enormous costs that untreated illness generate on public budgets and the private economy.
''If we talk about a child with diabetes,'' Mrs. Gore says, ''We have to talk about a child with bipolar illness or schizophrenia.'' As a former clinical depression patient, she has provided an excellent illustration for, as she puts it, ''turning private experience into public action.'' She is not unique. The president of the National Alliance for the Mentally Ill, Jackie Shannon, is a San Angelo, Texas, activist whose son was diagnosed with schizophrenia 15 years ago; and the leading Senate sponsors of full parity (with 28 supporters to date), Senators Pete Domenici of New Mexico and Paul Wellstone of Minnesota, come to their activism via family experiences.
The Gores propose focusing on discrimination against children that would take two forms. One would make the kids brought into the insurance system via the federal-state partnership to expand coverage to working poor and modest-income families eligible for mental health coverage no different from so-called physical health. An additional $2.5 billion over the next 10 years would pay for this as well as more support for community mental health clinics. Gore also advocates a $3,000 annual tax credit against the costs of long-term care.
But the biggest change would ban insurance discrimination against all children. The Gores' initiative spells out what it means: The proposal focuses on the most severe and disabling illnesses that have discernible impacts on the brain and are as responsive to treatment as many other diseases. That means bipolar disorder, major depressions, obsessive-compulsive conditions, schizophrenia, and attention deficit and hyperactivity disorders.
The Gore proposal would outlaw any insurance restriction on children's care - such as number of doctor visits or days in a treatment facility, or copayment and deductible requirements for care or drugs - that isn't applicable across the board. The push against discrimination is at least a decade old, and is inspired by the battle waged in the 1960s to outlaw insidious cancer exclusions in insurance policies.
It began in the states, with parity for government employees, and the pioneer in 1991 was Texas under Governor Ann Richards. There are now 31 state laws requiring full parity, this year's new ones coming in Kentucky, New Mexico, and Massachusetts. Nationally, Domenici and Wellstone won a law banning annual spending and so-called ''lifetime'' caps in policies covering mental illness. And President Clinton this year ordered that the federal workers' insurance program observe parity, affecting 9.5 million workers and retirees.
Gore is now pledged to take the next big step. It's nice to know Bush appreciates that.
Thomas Oliphant is a Globe columnist.
