The trouble with Tommy

With the debate over cloning and stem-cell research gaining steam in Washington, many social conservatives fear that Secretary of Health and Human Services Tommy Thompson isn't the right man to lead on health policy in the Bush administration | Tim Graham in Washington

Swimming pools traditionally open on Memorial Day, and this year the floodgates on cloning may open as well. Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle (D-S.D.) has promised to allow a vote in the Senate by then on a bill sponsored by Sens. Sam Brownback (R-Kan.) and Mary Landrieu (D-La.) that would prohibit all cloning, including that of embryos in order to harvest stem cells for medical research.

President Bush has come down forcefully in opposition to such cloning and to Democrats like Sen. Daschle who support it. On April 10, he strongly endorsed the ban in an East Room event, winning applause from cloning opponents. But his introduction of Secretary of Health and Human Services Tommy Thompson as "a man who is doing a fine job for America" yielded only polite clapping.