Hillary Clinton dropped by Arkansas this week to preach a familiar message as she continues her push for the Democratic nomination for president.
Clinton spoke Monday to a thousand or so supporters at Philander Smith College where she praised the work of Arkansas lawmakers to extend health care coverage to thousands of the state's citizens.
She was talking to that friendly crowd about the private option, which is Arkansas' take on the federal Affordable Care Act, or Obamacare, as it is perhaps better known.
The private option is undergoing review these days, but Clinton rightly applauded the bipartisan effort that uses federal dollars intended to expand Medicaid rolls to buy private insurance for more than 200,000 qualifying Arkansans.
Republican lawmakers worked with former Democratic Gov. Mike Beebe to create and secure federal approval of the private option. It survived subsequent legislative tests but now, with Republican Gov. Asa Hutchinson at the helm, the state is considering changes.
Notably, Hutchinson supports keeping the expansion, although he wants more limits on eligibility and benefits.
The private option has been undeniably good for Arkansans. And, despite the fact that many Republicans in the Arkansas Legislature are there because they ran against Obamacare, they, like Hutchinson, may eventually support its continuation.
Nevertheless, Obamacare remains a political red flag, which Clinton waved Monday without hesitation.
Of course, health care was an issue for Clinton long before her days as the first lady of Arkansas, and it has been ever since.
On Monday, the presidential hopeful spent much of the day defending Obamacare, first in Louisiana then in Arkansas.
Nationwide, thanks to the Affordable Care Act, Clinton said, less than 10 percent of Americans have no health insurance coverage now.
"You know what? It's working," Clinton said. "Yet all the Republican candidates for president are trying to repeal it. Republicans in Congress have tried to repeal it 54 times. Fifty-four times. Well, I'm not going to let them rip away the progress."
Some facts are inescapable. More Americans are insured and therefore have access to health care. They can live healthier, more productive lives.
Plus, they don't have to rely on hospital emergency rooms when they do need care, which has resulted in a reduction in uncompensated care costs for the nation's hospitals.
Those savings inure to the benefit of all of us in the continuing effort to reduce overall health care costs.
That fact alone may have as much to do with the survival of the private option in Arkansas as anything else. Hospitals and health care providers have a more effective lobbying force than poor people.
Whatever the reason, Arkansas has held onto its private option and hundreds of thousands of people have directly benefited here, just as millions have nationally from Obamacare.
They will all have a lot to lose if the people who want to tear down Obamacare prevail over those who want to protect it.
Speaking of prevailing, Hillary Clinton maintains her lead for the Democratic nomination.
That lead isn't what it once was, but she is still the clear front-runner among announced and potential Democratic candidates. And she's still polling ahead of Donald Trump, the Republican front-runner, in head-to-head match-ups.
Real Clear Politics' average of national polls last week put the former U.S. senator and secretary of state at 43.3 percent in the Democratic race.
Her strongest rival is U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders, D-Vt., at 23.8 percent. Vice President Joe Biden, who has not decided whether he will run, polls at 20 percent. Three others have 1 percent or less.
These are numbers from the national stage, averaging results of several polls conducted in September. Similar comparisons from Real Clear Politics earlier in the year showed Clinton with a much stronger hold on the nomination.
She started the year polling at more than 60 percent and didn't drop below 50 percent until late August.
Meanwhile, Sanders climbed, reaching as high as 27.7 percent in the poll averages. Biden's potential candidacy consistently polled below 15 percent until he recently began discussing the possibility of a run.
Poll averages from the bellwether states of Iowa and New Hampshire show a different picture. Sanders actually leads in New Hampshire with 43.8 percent compared to Clinton's 32.3 percent. In Iowa, she leads 38.5 percent to Sanders' 33.3 percent.
In another political season, Clinton's drop in fortune might have been the story of the hour. In this year, when Trump's bid so dominates the Republican race, it draws comparatively little notice.
The focus should change next month, when the Democratic candidates hold their first national debate. Surely that debate -- and the news that follows -- won't be all about Trump.
Commentary on 09/23/2015