Will we let Ted Kennedy's seat fall into the hands of a person who does not represent the people of Massachusetts on health care?
Mike Capuano is the only supporter of Medicare for All in the running to take Ted Kennedy's seat.
Massachusetts is the most liberal state in the entire country. This is a state where seven out of ten House representatives have endorsed not just Medicare for All, but HR 676, which is expanded and improved Medicare for All. This is a state where the official position of the state's Democratic Party on health care is first and foremost support for a single payer system.
So here's the question. Are we going to help elect a person who will fight for the people of Massachusetts on health care or are we going to allow the seat to fall into the hands of someone who won't? Are we going to secure a victory in what might be the most favorable race in a long time to elect a new Medicare for All supporter into the Senate, or are we going to get kicked to the curb by corporate power?
It's time to make a choice!
It's hard to overstate how much is at stake here. This election has no incumbent, meaning it's easier to win. Still more importantly, it's in Massachusetts, the most liberal state in the country. If we cannot elect a Medicare for All supporter to the Senate in an election with no incumbent in the most liberal state in the entire country, then prospects for change are dim indeed. If we cannot overcome corporate domination of the political process there, with all of these cards stacked in our favor, and with still other advantages such as the endorsement of Ted Kennedy's nephew, then we really have to ask what is going on.
Senators who support Medicare for All are an extremely exclusive club: by my count they number exactly four. Those four are Bernie Sanders from Vermont, Jeff Merkley from Oregon, Sherrod Brown from Ohio, and probably Tom Udall from New Mexico. Four out of one hundred senators who support Medicare for All, compared with popular support in the range of 47-59%, is a truly outrageous situation that cries out intensely to be corrected.
To understand even better why a Medicare for All non-supporter winning this race would be so outrageously intolerable, consider a reversed scenario in which Mike Enzi (the Senator from Wyoming, which is about as Republican a state as Massachusetts is Democratic) was unclear about whether he would vote against the public option. This is actually a less extreme example than the senator from Massachusetts being unclear on Medicare for All, because at least Enzi would be in line with national opinion if not local opinion in doing so. But by not favoring Medicare for All, a hypothetical Massachusetts senator would be not only out of line with opinion in his state, but probably national opinion as well!
Should we allow the infliction of a wound deeper to progressives than the senator from Wyoming refusing to oppose the public option would be to his corporate backers? Should we allow ourselves to be trampled on this manner? I say no!
In fact, let's emphasize that.
NNNNNNNNNOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!
Such a senator would also be defying his own state's Democratic Party on health care. Consider Massachusetts Democrats' health care platform:
HEALTH CARE
• The Democratic Party gave the country the original single payer systems: Medicaid, Medicare, and the Veterans Health Administration.
• Massachusetts Democrats continue to advocate for a single payer health system for all citizens.
• We believe that healthcare is a fundamental right.
• We support a constitutional amendment that affirms the right to universal coverage and to quality healthcare.
Is it too much to ask the future senator from Massachusetts to support the principles of his own state's Democratic Party?
Most of Massachusetts' representatives in the US House have also endorsed HR 676, The United States National Health Care Act, which would create a single payer system. Representatives with an X are cosponsors:
Rep. Olver, John [D] X
Rep. Neal, Richard [D]
Rep. McGovern, James [D] X
Rep. Frank, Barney [D] X
Rep. Tsongas, Niki [D]
Rep. Tierney, John [D] X
Rep. Markey, Edward [D]
Rep. Capuano, Michael [D] X
Rep. Lynch, Stephen [D] X
Rep. Delahunt, William [D] X
That makes seven out of ten representatives for Massachusetts who cosponsor HR 676! Is it too much to ask that the future senator be a supporter just like the majority of the representatives of Massachusetts? I think that any future senator needs to represent the people of his state on health care!
Ted Kennedy's nephew has endorsed Capuano, saying:
"I’m supporting him because I think he’s the person in the race who’s most like my Uncle Ted," Smith said.
He is joined by Barney Frank, who gave an inspiring speech on his behalf that I am going to post here.
But make no mistake: this is still an uphill battle, because of the identity of Capuano's major opponent. This is Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley.
Coakley has NOT voiced any support for Medicare for All anywhere. Indeed on every other major issue on which Coakley has actually taken a position, Capuano's stance seems equal or superior. Both are strongly pro-choice, support gay marriage and oppose DOMA. On withdrawal from Iraq and Afghanistan, Coakley has no position but Capuano was opposed to Iraq from the beginning and has spoken up in favor of a better exit strategy from Afghanistan. Coakley's position on key civil liberties like privacy seems similarly unclear but Capuano was one of only 56 House members to vote against the Patriot Act.
Coakley currently has a powerful advantage in her statewide name recognition, an advantage which will cause others to rally to her regardless of issues. She also has the support of much of the state legislature (including Senate President Terese Murray) largely thanks to her present office of state Attorney General, and she had been planning a campaign for Senate for months before Ted Kennedy actually passed. Coakley's status as a state government insider who can quickly line up support from those in power makes her a very formidable opponent.
So what can we do to ensure a good outcome in this election?
- Donate to Capuano's campaign. I am going to donate $25 today even though I am a student who currently has no income. If you have any spare change, please consider Mike Capuano.
- Volunteer. I will definitely be putting in some sort of volunteer work for this campaign after I finish studying for my GRE exams.
- Write to Kos and ask him to quickly endorse Capuano for Senate.
- Contact Fire Dog Lake and other blogs and ask them to come out strongly for Capuano. FDL's address is firedoglake [at] gmail.com .
- Blog in support of Capuano. In addition to Daily Kos, lately I have been blogging on TPM Cafe and Open Left and will post pieces there today.
- Brainstorm about more ways to help. Honestly I am not very experienced with political organization and need your help here in knowing who to contact in the blogosphere to endorse this campaign and how to raise money. Does anyone have any ideas?
Lately there was a story posted on Fire Dog Lake saying that Capuano was open to a trigger on the public option, but this seems like speculation. The origin of the accusation was a piece in Roll Call that only lists quotes by Capuano that do not mention triggers at all. (See this video for his actual position on the public option.) Capuano has seemingly just not made any statement specifically about being open to a trigger or not. And if not being specific is the problem, consider Capuano's opposition!
Now that Capuano is running for Senate, it becomes far more important that FDL replace this unjustified critical stance with enthusiastic support. We need nothing less than a strong shift to championing Capuano's campaign. Anything else would be a horrible strategic blunder.
Electing a Medicare for All supporter as the senator from Massachusetts would not be simply adding one more to the existing four. Because Massachusetts is in many ways treated as a kind of standard in liberalism for the country by political pundits, and because the seat once belonged to Ted Kennedy, people are going to look to whoever is elected there as setting an example. The question for us is whether we want that example to be a worthy one and one that remotely represents the people of Massachusetts, or whether it will just be gutted through typical non-issue based politics.
Capuano was trailing badly according to Rasmussen earlier this month, but at that point he had not even announced his candidacy and several competitors have since declined to enter the race. Still, we are going to need to move very quickly in order to beat Coakley's name recognition and support from state politicians by the December 8 primary date, which in Massachusetts is basically the election. Given Capuano's endorsements and better record I think this is possible, but we desperately need your help on the action points above!
Please RECOMMEND this diary. This message NEEDS to be heard by others. It is truly vital that we take up this cause!