When I walked into the Pharmacists Society of the State of New York’s offices near the Albany Pine Bush Preserve, I noticed something else about lights. The lobby was dark when I approached, but lit up as the automatic door opened. Me being from the more old-fashioned Hilltowns, this was my first experience with this.
Craig Burridge came out to greet me in the receptionist room, where a large display of antique physicians tools and canisters greeted me. There were old mortars and pestels all over the place, and jars of herbs and drugs from as far back as the early 19th century. Burridge explained to me some of their ages and uses and the history of the PSSNY as I noted the charm of the browned, curling labels on the funny-shaped jars.
Regarding my wonder with the lights in the lobby, Burridge pointed out that as CEO of the PSSNY he made sure to change the building’s electrical use to an energy saving structure. And in a two-hour long interview, Mr. Burridge made mention of it more than once as he related issues to each other and to his experience. We began the interview simply:
"What do I do?" said Burridge. "I’m the numbers guy." This lead to a numbers-intensive conversation on several issues. He pointed out that he would consistently receive feedback from the State Senators and Congressmen he’s worked with that his numbers always come out "low in savings and high in cost, but always in the ballpark."
He highlighted this tendency to support incremental change throughout the interview on several issues. Craig Burridge talked most at length about health care and his advocacy for a single-payer system as CEO of PSSNY. "We supported that way back when the Clinton’s were in office," Burridge said. "Pharmacy was actually behind that legislation."
He also cleared up any confusion about his role "I am not a pharmacist," Burridge said. "I represent licensed pharmacists. We do not represent brick and mortar pharmacies."
He added "I don’t do the lobbying. We have a lobbying firm to do that for us."
When I asked Craig Burridge why he was running for Congress, he replied, "When you look at experience in Washington, I have more experience than all the other candidates combined. And that includes the Republicans." Burridge said. He then pointed to 286 new pages of new regulations for CMS on his desk in front of him. While pointing he went into a heavily detailed, statistic, date, and percentage laden explanation of them.
The final date he gave was the one he wished he had gotten them done by, and expressed frustration with bureaucratic foot-dragging. Throughout the interview he spoke about various legislative projects of his as a Legislative Analyst in the New York State Senate and how to get around those dragging feet.
In fact, he named State Senators and Committee Counsels and got so specific about the legislative process, at times he almost sounded like he was running for State Senate. But he affirmed it’s Mike McNulty’s seat he’s after, not Joe Bruno’s.
"The reason I stepped out to run for Congress," Burridge said "there’s just too many big issues that I have a lot of experience in."
Burridge said he decided to run for Congress, announcing on April 18th, because of his close work with the state budget. "It wouldn’t have been appropriate," to announce any sooner, he said. He also highlighted, as his website and brochures do, his experience in Washington.
"Paul Tonko is pointing out that he’s testified before Congress once." Burridge pointed out, contrasting his experience to that of one of his strongest opponents. "At the Federal level, I’ve been going every year. I usually go three or four times a year, probably a total of 25 to 30 days a pop." Burridge had just returned from his most recent trip the previous day.
His "number one" issue was health care. He elaborated on finding savings in the health care system with Medicare and Medicaid billing. Burridge attributed his education and "a strong background in economics, including his 27-credit semester abroad at the London School of Economics as having allowed him to achieve this, as well as hit 15 years directing a pharmacist’s not-for-profit corporation.
As part of his plans on the economics of health care, Burridge explained his idea to incentive doctors. "The idea is we need to reward people for doing things that are healthy," he said. This is a part of the British health care system, where doctors are rewarded for getting patients to quit smoking. Burridge believes this could be applied to diabetes, regular check-ups, and child wellness.
But he tied it back to economics. "The fact is that, economically, it’s going to help decrease costs for everybody," if his health care plan goes through should he get to Congress. "My eventual thing is that this parallel system will go away," he said of his vision for health care. "That once people are comfortable in experiencing what we call universal health care....they’ll end up saying this is good coverage."
"If you look at the service industry," he continued, to highlight the breadth of his knowledge on the issue, "that’s where the least amount of coverage is." I pointed out our country’s whole movement towards a more service-based economy, and the figures and percentages kept pouring in, as did Burrdige’s ideas for solutions.
One of the biggest solutions he cited was his support for a move to electronic medical records. This issue, he explained at length, had both economic and human safety implications, especially in pharmacy and prescription drugs.
I asked Burridge what the biggest hurdle was to universal health care and he was quick to answer "Cost." He went into his experience in working with both the state and federal governments together, and especially the costs of administration. "But it’s not rocket science," he said, especially in getting the infrastructure. "Congress should step in here and say, you know what, this isn’t going to get any cheaper, the only way we’re going to save money to get universal health care is we need to cut the administrative costs."
"I haven’t talked about any kind of taxes," he added. "I think we need to work smarter."
I wanted to see how Burridge stood up to the arguments he would face from the other side in Congress. I pointed out a project for a wind turbine to go up in my town for some green energy and how one official was saying that these things were "controversial."
"Getting rid of the controversy is getting rid of the fear," he said, for any issue. I liked hearing that after eight years of the Bush administration. Just for fun, I decided to play Bushbot and asked Burridge what his response would be to conservative critics who use framing like "socialized medicine" or "death tax."
He quickly replied that " ‘socialized medicine’ is a fear-mongering tactic to keep universal health care out when in fact it’s not. Universal health care is not socialized medicine." He supported this argument by pointing out his plan, and the plans being put forth at other levels in Democratic politics, are not requiring doctors to work for the government, but making sure the government can guarantee coverage.
Burridge cited his work with Rep. Waxman on the Medicare Part D program in 2006 to back it up, and lead into another case for his experience-based candidacy. "When you look at my experience nationally, I have a national presence that none of the candidates do." He said that legislators would call him, not other legislators, on the issues he worked on in Congress for about two decades as an executive.
But he also made note that he had been willing to "work across the aisle," and I asked him to elaborate. He said it meant more than just working with Republicans, which he’s done, but also with lobbyists and corporations.
Burridge then said "I’m not a tax-and-spend Democrat." He noted that he’d been balancing the budgets of non-for-profit corporations for over 20 years. "The only good tax is one that serves a purpose," he continued, specifically about the carbon-emissions taxes he’d like to see. His plan is based largely on Denmark’s programs, which he explained at length and with many more figures. Bascilly, the tax works because it's based on an incentive to do the right thing environmentally to end up not paying it; companies that don't, pay the tax.
"If any money does come into Congress," through these types of taxes, he said, he wants the money dedicated to the development of green energy programs and reducing dependency on foreign oil. He connected his experience in the community housing public policy realm as a good starting point to get houses energy efficient one by one.
"What I’m trying to get to is that tipping point where Congress says...the American people are walking the walk now." he said. "We need a long-term energy policy," based on the actions of individual Americans, which Burridge believes Congress should reflect in it’s actions.
When asked about how this issue related specifically to the 21st district, Burridge said his biggest thing was to see the Capital Region become a leader in green technology and become attractive to manufacturers. He was particularly excited about the nanomirror technology being developed right here in the area and wants them manufactured here, and he wants the nanomirrors to replace municipal lighting to both go green and save taxpayers’ costs.
After this long discussion on policy specific area, I asked Burridge to share a little bit about himself personally. I wasn’t expecting him to proudly proclaim how deep his American roots go back in our history, but I was very interested. One side of his family owned land in 1632 and included a secretary to Peter Stuyvesant, eighteen who served in the American Revolution, and two bodyguards to George Washington. The other side of his family? Mayflower immigrants.
We jumped ahead a few hundred years to Craig’s childhood in Troy, living with a single mother who worked as a waitress. In a small apartment, the family shared a bathroom with the adjoining barber shop.
"I know what’s it’s like to eat powdered eggs in the brown government boxes," Burridge recalled with a smile that expressed no bitterness. He said his tough economic upbringing helped shape who he is today.
"I would never change a thing. We were poor." Burridge said. "I think it builds character, and I think it formed my vision of how society needs to care for people that sometimes it’s just a little extra to change someone’s life." He related this to his long career in public policy.
"I saw it in the Housing Authority. I saw generational welfare." He said. "It’s like, what would it take to break the cycle?" he had asked himself. Burridge was 25 years old when he was appointed to the Cohoes Housing Authority.
On his resume, Craig lists his educational background in high school as a public school student in Troy and Cohoes and Green Island, the home of the Congressman he seeks to replace. His college career brought him from Hudson Valley Community College to Russel Sage to a master’s of science in public service. And that trip to London. Once again, he connected this to two issues in 2008, education and the economy.
And what would he do, in his own words, with his experience and education as my next Congressman? "I would sit down with the leaders of all the colleges, the nanotechnology firms and then, using my national stature, say, OK, what do you need in a work force here?" Burridge said. "We have a highly educated work force here. Maybe even over-educated."
"I bring that to the table," he continued. "I’m not a single issue candidate. We have one guy talking about energy, that’s all he’s talking about," referring again to Paul Tonko. "He says he’ll "hit the ground running." That’s great, you testified before Congress." he said of the former Assemblyman’s campaign message.
"I’ve been going to Congress since ’81." he said frankly. "I have national stature. Some people might criticize me for this," he continued, "but my furthest donation comes from Alaska." He added that people from Missouri, Texas, Louisiana, Georgia, Arkansas, Wisconsin, Iowa were also donating, several of them his colleagues.
These donations, Burridge said, "They’re just hearing about it. They’re going on my website. It’s pulling in donations from peers who know how strenuously I’ve fought for seniors and for universal health care across the country."
This lead to our closing conversation on the nuts and bolts of the campaign, and I asked Craig Burridge what his thoughts were on his first campaign. He quickly answered "This is not my first campaign," referring to the several campaigns of local political figures from Ron Canestrari to Erastus the late Mayor Corning for year after year, going door to door. "I’ve used up every day of my vacation times [in previous years] working on Senate campaigns," against Senator Joe Bruno, he reminisced.
He said he hadn’t yet had a chance to run for office. When explaining the places he’d lived in his life in the river cities and town of Waterford, he mentioned several members of the McNulty family whom he did not wish to run against, as well as Assemblymen whose support are highly sought after in the race. I got the impression that Burridge has been thinking of doing this for some time and since a young age. "It’s just one of those things where I never had the opportunity," he said.
Of his run for Congress in the primary, though: "I looked at this as something I can handle." Burridge said. "Congress does not scare me."
"If you want to be talking about putting someone into Washington," he said, "because we’re all going to be freshman Congressman who’s going to step into the job running on all cylinders, it’s me. And I say that humbly because it’s just me. It’s my background. It’s my education. It’s who I know."
Burridge added some words for another of his toughest opponents, Phil Steck, to this regard. "He says he’s the only candidate in office." Burridge said. "Let me explain. His job in the legislature is part-time. If they met for eight hours the ten times they meet a year, then he’s got maybe a thousand hours including his two committees."
He compared that to the 8000 hours he said he’d logged in three years as a legislative analyst in the New York State Senate. "I don’t want that to be discounted just because I wasn’t a legislator."
Soundpolitic Blogger's Note
At the close of this, my first interview as a blogger and the first in a series that I hope will cover all eight candidates running for Congress. (John Aretakis, Tracey Brooks, Criag Burridge, Lester Freeman, Darius Shahinfar, Phil Steck, Paul Tonko, and Arthur Welser.)
Burridge left me with a final thought on this request of his in the Democratic Primary in NY-21:
"Discount me at your own risk."
Even as a Steck for Congress volunteer myself, I would not either. My main motivation in doing this series is that I don't see any effort made by the mainstream media to reach out to all the candidates like this. Not that any rules require them to. But there are eight people in this race and that's a pretty big choice to make. I still think everyone should have all the candidate's info, no matter who I'm for or against.
Still, it's a wide open race and anything can happen. I'd take Craig Burridge's advice if I was in a race against him, and I'm moving him up on my roster of second to eighth choices.
Primary Day is September 9, 2008.
