Gephardt huddles with Baldacci, Allen in South Portland Health insurance, football dominate talk

House Minority Leader Dick Gephardt of Missouri came to New England on Friday to settle some Super Bowl bets, campaign, and talk about efforts to expand health insurance coverage.

Gephardt said he made 40 to 50 bets with New Englanders that the heavily favored St. Louis Rams would beat the New England Patriots in the Super Bowl. The Patriots upset the Rams, 20-17.

“I made a lot of unwise bets,” Gephardt said after talking insurance with U.S. Reps. Tom Allen and John Baldacci in South Portland.

On a serious note, Gephardt was joined at a restaurant by small business owners, along with fellow Democrats Baldacci and Allen, to discuss the rising costs and diminishing choices for health insurance.

Allen said he plans to reveal a bill within 10 days that would address the problem of escalating insurance costs for small businesses through a public-private partnership. He called it a “pilot project.”

Gephardt said Democrats still want universal health care. He said Maine’s efforts represent measured steps in that direction.

“We face a crisis in Maine and in America. Small businesses are dropping coverage because they cannot afford it,” Gephardt said.

Later, Gephardt joked that he had a tractor-trailer full of St. Louis specialties – toasted ravioli, pretzels and frozen custard – to settle his Super Bowl bets. He said he didn’t place bets with any Mainers.

But in New Hampshire, he had to pay up.

Gephardt had said if the Patriots beat the Rams, he would wear a Patriots jersey. And New Hampshire House Democratic Leader Peter Burling presented him with a jersey bearing the name of Adam Vinatieri, who kicked the winning field goal.

“I never dreamed I’d have to pay this off,” he told an audience at the Legislative Office Building in Concord, N.H.

While in New Hampshire, Gephardt stumped for several candidates and touched on other issues, including the war on terrorism.

He said he agreed with Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle’s assessment that the Bush administration has not been as forthcoming about the war in recent months. Although communication was good in the first months after Sept. 11, it since has fallen off, he said.

“We can’t win the war against terrorism unless we’re together,” Gephardt said. “You can’t remain in a trusting relationship unless you communicate with one another repeatedly and consistently.”