As a growing field emerges in the race to fill Edward M. Kennedys US Senate seat, the white-hot debate over the nations health care system is already shaping up to be a defining issue in the Democratic primary campaign.

With three months to make their case to Massachusetts voters, the declared and prospective candidates are staking out varied positions at a time when President Obama is moving aggressively into the final stage of his push for a major health care overhaul - the most pressing issue facing Congress this year.

US Representative Michael Capuano, who plans to announce soon, expresses strong support for liberal priorities, including a so-called public option - a government insurance plan that would compete with the private sector - and a requirement that employers cover their workers.

Attorney General Martha Coakley, the first major contender to formally announce her candidacy for the Democratic primary, is standing behind a government insurance option while appearing to tread more cautiously on the question of an employer requirement, which could force employers over a certain size to offer health insurance to workers or face financial penalties.

The employer mandate has worked well in Massachusetts and I would support its consideration as part of a federal health care reform package, she said in a statement.

And US Representative Stephen Lynch is holding fast to his refusal to announce a position on either of those items, provoking continued anger from labor leaders who shunned him during a key Labor Day breakfast.

Lynchs wait-and-see stance suggests he may seek to position himself as the lone conservative in a crowded Dec. 8 Democratic primary - a move that could separate him from the pack. If he faces three or four contenders who divide the states liberal voters among themselves, Lynch could prevail by garnering most of the states moderate to conservative Democrats, including the so-called Reagan Democrats concentrated in his South Boston neighborhood.

If its a political strategy, thats it - being a little bit more conservative, said Robert J. Haynes, president of the Massachusetts AFL-CIO, which plans to hold a competitive endorsement process in the race. If he holds those positions, hes out of line with his union brothers and sisters.

Lynch, a onetime iron worker who plans to launch a bid for Kennedys seat any day, has had strong labor support in the past, but has often taken a more conservative approach than other members of the states congressional delegation on a variety of issues, including abortion rights, which he opposes, and a 2006 Republican resolution supporting President George W. Bushs policies in Iraq, which he supported. In a Globe interview, Lynch said there is nothing political about his decision to wait for a final health care bill to emerge from five House and Senate committees before taking a stand.

People are trying to get me to sign pledges, but because the situation is so fluid Ive been insisting on the right to see the legislation before I make a commitment, he said. I consider myself a common-sense Democrat and I think issues - especially big ones like this - require measured approaches to find the best solution.

Follow this link:

Health care at center of US Senate race