MA Gubernatorial candidate Don Berwick at Medicare-for-All Town Hall
For those like me who believe that Obamacare is just the start, nearly 250 people (plus more online!) turned out last week for a town hall meeting at Boston University to hear Dem Gubernatorial Candidate Dr. Don Berwick speak about bringing Single Payer, Medicare-for-All to Massachusetts. At the end, he received a standing ovation!
This video is less than four minutes long. Check out the audience reaction at the end. And if this whets your taste, check out his
original Isaiah speech at the Harvard Medical School Commencement, to which he refers in the new video.
Don Berwick is THE most progressive candidate running for MA Governor. When President Obama declared Obamacare a smashing success, U.S. Rep. Steven Lynch (the only member of the MA congressional delegation to vote against the ACA!) promptly told the Boston Herald that the program will "bury the Dems!", a quote that has been picked up by many rightwing rags and sites. That attitude hurts Dems nationally, and will hurt efforts to move toward a national single-payer system.
Don Berwick's response was to double down by:
1. Writing this guest editorial for the Springfield Republican titled: "It's Time for Massachusetts to Lead again with Single-payer Health Care"; and to
2. Hold the town hall on Medicare-for-All at Boston University. This edited version is less than four minutes long, but you can see the reaction to Don. This is why his candidacy is causing such excitement.
Although his experience both as a pediatrician and Obama's appointment of him to head CMS (an appointment that, like with Elizabeth Warren, was filibustered by the GOP, but not before Don contributed 18 months to the now-hugely-successful ACA implementation!), Don is far from a one-issue candidate. Affordable college education, job creation and the environment figure large in his agenda. And he is not afraid to speak out against SCOTUS decisions destroying campaign finance limits:
"This is yet another step in the wrong direction, building on the destructive Citizens United decision, and threatening to undermine the principle of 'one-person-one-vote.' With income inequality continuing to grow in this Commonwealth and across the nation, the last thing we need is even more influence concentrated in the hands of the wealthy and well connected. We need to move - quickly - toward repealing Citizens United and implementing publicly financed elections, guaranteeing equal voice for everyone," Berwick said in a statement.
These positions have recently led to two former State Reps Dan Bosley and Sue Tucker
coming out in support of his candidacy.
Full disclosure: I've been volunteering for Don for almost a year. I was recently elected delegate to the State Convention and will be voting for him. I've also been out gathering signatures for his candidacy for the past several weekends, and people are excited. The few who haven't yet heard of him are almost invariably impressed when I tell them who he is and what he stands for.
Don is the most progressive candidate in the race, and his election in Massachusetts would be a huge boost for all those nationally who would like to see Medicare-for-All. In other words, he's exactly the type of "more better Democrats" to which this site is committed. If you have the chance, visit his website and consider making a contribution.