The Clintons reached into the ranks of their entertainment allies to lampoon opponents of their national health plan - one day before hitting the hustings to sell their package to voters.
Appearing at the 109th annual Gridiron Club dinner - an event sponsored by Washington's journalistic elite - the president presented a videotape parody.
He and Hillary Rodham Clinton played "Harry and Louise," the fictitious couple featured in commercials paid for by the Health Insurance Association of America, leading opponents of the Clinton plan.
"It says here on page 3,764 that under the Clinton health security plan, we could get sick," Hillary Clinton deadpans.
A somber president, as Harry, shakes his head, crestfallen, and moans: "That's terrible."
"It gets worse," she warns. "It says that eventually we are all going to die."
"Under the Clinton health plan?" asks the president incredulously. "You mean after Bill and Hillary put all those new bureaucrats and taxes on us, we're still all gonna die?"
The Clinton commercial was guided by Mandy Grunwald, a White House political adviser who handled campaign ads for Clinton during the '92 election.
Grunwald called in employees of her firm to produce the skit, written by staffers from Saturday Night Live.
The skit ends with the Clintons turning to the camera and, mocking Harry and Louise's exit line, pout in unison: "There's got to be a better way."
The video fades to black with the banner: "Paid for by the Coalition to Scare Your Pants Off."
The Clinton videotaped schtick received a standing ovation.
A good performance before the Gridiron has traditionally boosted the image of presidents and their spouses.
Most notable example: when former first lady Nancy Reagan mocked her tastes for new china, clothes and other expensive spending by singing to a parody of Second Hand Rose.
Today Clinton is on the road pitching his health plan before a possibly tougher audience: elderly residents of Century Village near Fort Lauderdale.
For this performance, the props supporting the Clintons will be eight new red, white and blue charts explaining the health plan and its effects.
The Florida appearance is part of the White House strategy to sell health care by bypassing the national media - preoccupied by the Whitewater affair - and focusing on regional media outlets.
