Everyone supports healthcare reform and wants to ensure that the US provides decent medical care to everyone. I'm writing about the conservative media ad campaign. Already the group Conservative for Patients Rights (CPR) is running commercials facing testimonials of patients in Canada and in the UK who have suffered and died because of "government run healthcare".
More beneath the fold.
The main reason why I'm writing this post is that I wonder where are our ads? Where are the ads from groups who want real reform? The main argument that CPR seems to make is that, if we adopt single payer or a national healthcare system, we will have long lines; and people will die.
But the fact is that we ALREADY have long lines. People have to sometimes wait weeks between doctors appointments and have to fight with insurance companies to receive the care that they need. Where is the left's commercial telling the story of a family whose relative died waiting for care? What about the ad showing a family who lost their life savings because insurance didn't cover the procedure? Or what about people in jobs that don't have insurance?
What bothers me is that the left has yet to learn effective PR. The right is already running slick ads with great marketing to advance their position. CPR's marketing makes it look like it is a group whom ordinary people support. The reality is that it is probably a front group for industry but their marketing makes them look like they have the support of ordinary people. Scott's biography indicates that he is associated with Columbia/HCA, Inc, one of the major medical companies here in the United States. I think that it's the same company that Dr./Senator Frist worked for. But CPR's slick advertising makes it look like it is a grassroots work.
I wish that the left could learn better PR. I wonder where our ads are on TV showing the plight of those that the health insurance system leaves behind to either die or end up bankrupt.