Any chance you've gone to a town hall to quiz your representative on health care, and they've either not shown up or locked you out or slipped out the back door? Maybe you've called their offices only to hear an automaton chirping, "I'm sorry, this mail box is full. Goodbye!" Well, if it's any consolation, you are not alone—and it's got people like Atlanta resident Joel Cobbs, who leans Democratic, spitting mad. Huffington Post’s Jennifer Bendery writes:
Last week, for the first time in his life, he signed up to run for office. He’s mulling a run against [GOP Rep. Doug] Collins.
“How can you represent people when you’re not even willing to meet with them? You’re going to cower in the corner where it’s safe?” Cobbs asked. “That really gets on my nerves.” [...]
As Senate Republicans’ fight over Obamacare repeal reached a fever pitch last week, Run for Something saw a nearly 500 percent increase in its daily candidate recruitment. The organization, which recruits and trains Democrats under the age of 35 to run for office, typically has five to 10 people sign up on the weekends and 15 to 20 sign up on a weekday. Between last Sunday and Tuesday, more than 220 people signed up. Cobbs was among them. [...]
“Republican elected officials are playing partisan politics with a literal life-or-death issue,” said Amanda Litman, a co-founder of Run for Something. “People are signing up to run because their kids are at risk of losing coverage or their families have struggled because of lifetime caps. This isn’t an abstract policy with a faceless statistical impact.”
Emily's List, which helps Democratic women mount bids for office, has reported steady monthly increases in interest from women, about 16,000 of them, many of whom are specifically motivated by the health care battle.
Honestly, 2018 is going to be an election cycle for the ages. Not only will there be a ton of new blood and new energy in the mix, but these new candidates will truly be standing for something on an issue that's literally a matter of life and death for people.
Mai Khanh Tran, a pediatrician and two-time breast cancer survivor, announced last month that she’s challenging Rep. Ed Royce (R-Calif.), a 12-term congressman and chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee.
Tran, a Democrat, says explicitly on her campaign page that she’s running because of Royce’s efforts to gut the Affordable Care Act ― he voted more than 40 times to repeal the law when President Barack Obama was president, and he supported the House bill in May that eliminates pre-existing condition protections.
“As a physician I am saddened by Ed Royce’s callousness, as a mom I am hurt, and as a citizen I am angry,” Tran said. “There is simply no way many of the families that I serve as a pediatrician will keep their insurance coverage.”
Not all these folks will win, but they are sure going to give Republicans—who don't even know what they're voting on at this very moment (???)—the race of their lives. Bring it!