The following was written by two Berwick supporters in Greater Boston. They asked me to share this letter on BMG on their behalf.
Hello dear friend:
It’s so easy to let a state primary slip by but the opportunity for real change in this election is quite exciting and so we wanted to reach out to our friends and neighbors.
Hal and I would very much appreciate your consideration and vote for Dr. Don Berwick, Democrat for Governor on September 9th.
I personally have been tracking Don’s career and accomplishments for over 15 years. While at Abt Associates, it was imperative to follow his work because simply, Don is a thought leader. He has been cited as the third most influential voice in healthcare, just behind Bill Gates.
But if you haven’t been tracking his career as I have, I’ve put together a Top 10 list for you. So, drum roll please, here are the top 10 reasons why you should vote for Don Berwick!
Reason 10: If you like Elizabeth Warren, you will LOVE Don Berwick!
Don is an authentic progressive force. ‘Progressive Massachusetts’ and ‘Progressive Democrats of Massachusetts’ have endorsed Don. Many state officials, including State Senator Jamie Eldrige, a leading progressive Senator in Massachusetts, have endorsed Don as well.
When I listen to Don and review his agenda, it is an agenda that speaks to me. It is inclusionary. It is about having a moral compass that guides how we lead this State. It’s about doing the right thing, not the politically expedient thing.
I hope that you have the opportunity to meet Don because everyone that I have brought to hear him in person is deeply moved by his integrity, his compassion and his strong sense of what is right and what is wrong. Just listen to his commencement address to the graduates of the Harvard Medical School but make sure you have your hanky.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wmEbO58chac
Did I mention Dr. Paul Farmer has endorsed Don Berwick
Reason 9: You’re smart. He’s smart. We need smart!
Seriously, the issues we face are scary complex, whether it’s making policy decisions about energy, education, innovation, or technology. We deserve a brilliant leader, and not just a politician. As background, Don went to Harvard as an undergrad, and received his MD and MPP from Harvard Medical School and the Kennedy School. To cite all his accomplishments would be too lengthy. You can Google him but importantly, he founded the Institute of Healthcare Improvement (IHI) and was the Head of CMS-Medicare and Medicaid under President Obama.
Let’s not settle. We deserve exceptional leaders in government.
Reason 8: Don may have saved the life of someone you know.
In the 90’s, landmark research was published estimating that over 98,000 patients die annually in the US due to medical errors. In response, Don and his team at IHI launched the 100,000 Lives Campaign. Don’s premise was simple- challenge hospitals to eliminate deaths caused by medical errors.
More than 3,037 hospitals participated, representing 92 percent of the hospital beds in America. These hospitals committed to implementing 6 scientifically proven processes.
As a direct result, thousands of lives continue to be saved.
Just one example of Don’s vision and leadership galvanizing an industry to dramatically alter its practices and accept accountability.
Reason 7: President Obama picked him to be in his Administration. Now we can pick him at the Primary on Tuesday, September 9th!
President Obama selected Don to head CMS, an agency critical to President Obama’s success. CMS runs Medicare and Medicaid, the US government agency with the largest budget of $820 billion dollars and 5,500 employees. Don successfully ran the Agency for close to 2 years but the right wing coalesced to block his nomination. Glenn Beck called him ‘the second most dangerous man in America’.
To this day I am both infuriated and saddened that one of the most effective and visionary leaders of our generation could not stay and serve this Country.
Don’t let special interests undermine our government.
Reason 6: The healthcare system is broken and Don can fix it.
Our healthcare system is not only broken but it’s not sustainable. Over 40% of our state budget goes to healthcare! Don views health care as a human right. His solution is to expand the single payer healthcare model. Think of it as expanding access to Medicare to everyone. The Republicans and Insurance Companies made certain that this provision was not included in the Affordable Care Act. Just making a ‘Medicare for all/single payer system’ available as an employer-sponsored option would save Massachusetts businesses millions of dollars by reducing their premium costs! So if we all know this is the paramount issue facing our Commonwealth, why wouldn’t we put our Dream Team together? The Dream Team would be led and coached by Don Berwick.
He understands how good care could be, what better payment systems look like and how to reorganize care with patients at the center. ‘That has been my work for 30 years and I will bring that knowledge and experience to the Corner Office.” –Don Berwick
Reason 5: He’s a Knight!
He was knighted by the Queen of England. In recognition for his exemplary work for the National Health Service, he was appointed honorary Knight Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire—the highest award given to non-British citizens.
How cool is that?
Reason 4: A casino to solve our financial problems, really?
Don is the only candidate who flat out opposes casino gambling. Why? Other states have casinos and we now have hard data that enables us to evaluate whether casinos work, or not. Let’s cut to the chase- casinos do NOT work. Instead, casinos:
– Kill small business jobs.
– Create crime.
– Lead to addiction.
– Prey on the poor.
– Have a negative impact on revenues long term by increasing costs associated with crime, addiction and higher unemployment.
Preying on the most vulnerable among us is just not right.
Reason 3: Don Berwick can beat Charlie Baker in the fall.
So who can take on Charlie Baker in the fall? I respect Martha Coakley’s service but, in my view, she has difficulty debating opponents on the issues. Steve Grossman is the political insider but fails to excite and inspire voters. And interestingly, no statewide office holder (such as an Attorney General or Treasurer) has made it to the Governor’s office in 60 years! Massachusetts’ voters consistently reject career politicians.
Voters want change- someone who can bring innovation, vision and leadership, not years of being part of the political machine.
Don has the intellectual firepower, the proven executive leadership outside and inside government and the personal integrity to win this race.
Watch the Democratic gubernatorial debates and see for yourself!
Reason 2: Education, education, education.
As a first generation Chinese-American, I truly understand the value of education as providing the ladder to middle class. Education is the great equalizer. Don Berwick is a strong and steadfast advocate of strengthening and equalizing our educational system so that children in less affluent towns are provided with the right tools and resources to give them a fighting chance. Don understands how Charter schools should be managed, teachers supported and the importance of universal access to Pre-K for better life outcomes.
Education, education, education!
And the number 1 reason you should vote for Don Berwick…
He’s doing it for all the right reasons!
Don has the longest list of accomplishments by far of any of the candidates. He’s done it all. Been a Pediatrician, a teacher, a Chief Executive of a highly respected firm creating jobs and driving innovative solutions here and abroad, and the Director of the largest government agency at the national level. He’s a Knight for crying out loud! So the question arises, why is he in the race?
We believe Don is not running for Governor because he has future political aspirations or that he thinks it’s the next logical career move. We believe Don wants to be Governor because he knows that he can positively change the lives of so many us who live and work in Massachusetts. He is a fixer of problems. That’s what he has done his entire career. Now, as we face crippling health care costs, difficult choices with regard to energy sources, and how we will sustain and grow our economy, we need a particularly seasoned, experienced and exceptional leader, and that candidate is Don Berwick.
Please join us in voting for Don Berwick on Tuesday, September 9th. If you will be out of town on that day, please go to your Town Office/Hall and complete an absentee ballot.
Thank you for making it through this letter!
Warm regards,
Helena and Hal
For more information, visit: http://www.berwickforgovernor.com or just call us!
I suspect the question is not about generating more votes, but which is more likely to influence YOUR vote. I submit that the editorial might be the former and a note from a friend almost certainly the latter.
FWIW #5 above is my favorite:)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qyHQsRCvu8g&feature=youtu.be
So, the Globe endorses Steve, and the Berwick campaign responds by using Elizabeth Warren’s name! These days, I guess every candidate likes to compare themselves with our senior Senator. But, take a minute and ask what Don Berwick did during Warren’s campaign.
During the 2012 campaign, did Berwick volunteer his time to help Warren with advice on healthcare policy or any other issue?….Nope. If you volunteered in any way, you did more than Berwick.
During the 2012 campaign, did Berwick help Warren with fundraising?….Nope. If you gave Elizabeth five dollars, you did more than Dr. Berwick.
By contrast, both Coakley and Grossman were helpful. Martha gave advice. Steve gave advice and hosted successful fundraisers.
So, if you like Elizabeth Warren, it’s not necessarily the case that you should like Don Berwick.
My guess is she’s in favor of the first and not the second.
her site says nothing about them and so she agrees with Baker.
Senator Warren is neutral in this primary. It’s silly to try to speculate about which candidate she really likes the best.
Elizabeth Warren has not endorsed any of the three candidates for governor, and she will undoubtedly support whichever candidate wins.
n/t
Everyone lines up to associate themselves with her.
So, the Boston Globe endorses Steve Grossman, and Berwick’s team panics. They invoke Elizabeth Warren’s name, hoping that her supporters will join them. But, there still is a big problem: Don Berwick was not one of her supporters during the campaign. Many of us worked hard to elect Elizabeth. Both Coakley and Grossman helped. Don Berwick did nothing, but now his campaign uses Elizabeth’s names and appeals to her supporters.
Well, I am not supporting the doctor.
He may well have been rooting for her and voted for her. They certainly have similar experiences – both deprived the chance to run an agency they were more than qualified to run only by GOP obstruction. I wouldn’t really hold that against him.
Berwick resigned from federal service (CMS) on December 2, 2011. So, he had plenty of time to participate in Elizabeth Warren’s campaign in 2012.
To be fair, Dr. Berwick has not been exactly wasting his time since December 2011. He has been busy with a number of important and valuable undertakings from what I hear from disinterested third parties. The Warren campaign was not one of them apparently, but that’s not the only worthy thing a Massachusetts resident can do in the world.
Don Berwick’s supporters are invoking Elizabeth Warren’s name! Well, if Don Berwick’s values are so consistent with Elizabeth Warren’s values, why didn’t he do something to help in the campaign. I understand that he might have been busy, and I realize that a doctor’s time is valuable, but he could have given a contribution to Senator Warren. He did nothing.
I’ve seen surprising behavior from my own State Rep.. Seems a bit desperate to me. If Grossman is the most Proressive and the most likely to support Jay’s (oops, I mean my rep’s) blueprint for tax reform, why is he so worried?
If a former chair of AIPAC (American Israeli Political Action Commitee) like Steve has Democratic values equal to or better than an member of PHR (Physicians for Human Rights) like Don, then what’s a QUOTE “Progressive” UNQUOTE Democrat to worry about?
Steve Grossmam went to AIPAC because of ties to Clinton and to Rabin in an era when the hawks were on the outs. He got that organization to support Oslo and tried to keep it in line after Rabin was killed. When it became clear he couldn’t keep the hardliners down he moved on.
If there’s been one truly regrettable thing this year, it’s been the absolute disrespect shown a lifelong progressive Democrat like Steve Grossman by some cultish supporters of a political neophyte whose candidacy seems poised to hand the nomination to Martha Coakley.
n/t
The comparisons are obvious. Neither is a career politician. Both are expert leaders in their respective fields. Both went to Washington to help, and were sent home to run for us by obstinate Republicans. And both are doing this to serve, not as an ambition.
and one of the things I love about her is that she always makes the point that it takes ongoing grassroots mobilization to move anything forward against powerful interests. Don Berwick does not do that. I heard him list his accomplishments, and then say, “let me lead you!” His accomplishments are indeed impressive, and I agree with almost all of his policy points. But when he talks about what would happen if he were governor, it is all about him. I never hear him say “it is OUR campaign” the way Deval Patrick and Elizabeth Warren did. Why do all of you progressives who are supporting him put up with this? Progressive leadership needs to be about more than good ideas. It has to be about how we build power to challenge power.
On top of that, I think that his attacks on Martha Coakley and Steve Grossman as status quo political insiders are disingenuous and unconscionable. Is it not a “political” tactic to play the outsider card? Especially considering where he is in all of the polling so far, it is a high-stakes and dangerous gamble that is likely to play right into Charlie Baker’s hand.
Full disclosure: I’m supporting Steve Grossman. He has a long track record of progressive activism, this post detailing it. He has none of the arrogance I feel from Don Berwick, and I would be proud to have him as Governor.
…but I do believe Berwick is trying his best with the gifts he has and I do not find him arrogant. Where he does fall short is in the ability to sweep early. Deval Patrick rocked the caucuses and thus swept the convention and Elizabeth Warren managed to push everyone else out of the race.
is our campaign, and that the grassroots is what he’s representing, calling on for help, and planning to serve. It is never “all about him.” And I have never detected the slightest touch of arrogance from him.
But “playing the outsider card”? He’s the outsider, overcoming big name-recognition hurdles. Martha and Steve are insiders, that’s indisputable, whatever you might think that means or doesn’t mean. It’s not a card, it’s reality.
“makes the point that it takes ongoing grassroots mobilization to move anything forward against powerful interests. Don Berwick does not do that.”
Are you kidding me?
Are you not familiar with the powerful health insurance lobby, the gaming lobby? While the other Democrats and the Republicans are climbing over the other to see who can kiss the ass of these lobbyists the most, Don Baker is the ONLY one with the guts to fight both. Have you spent any time with his grassroots supporters? That’s all we talk about.
I have seen Don Berwick speak 5 times during the campaign at smaller events. His language has been the opposite of what margot describes.
Berwick does indeed speak to liberal-populist concerns. That part’s great. He’s clearly taking the side of the “people” versus the moneyed interests. That’s all very fine. Watching the first debate and various other clips of him, I don’t see him sounding the “Together We Can” theme of Deval Patrick or Barack Obama. I believe Elizabeth Warren speaks a little in this fashion too.
Now, maybe this is a side effect of 70% of the electorate not being able to distinguish him from a door knob or a store mannequin, and so he really needs people to get to know who he is. (Possibly this is a result of his campaign manager taking a July vacation?) However, the focus has been heavily on what he’s done, what he can accomplish, why health care costs are important, why we should go single-payer, and other issues. So I suppose if one is persistently unknown, perhaps there’s not so much time for “together we can”.
Maybe he touched on it on reddit, but I missed that.
It is so bad that if everyone who has heard of Dr. Berwick voted for him, he’d still lose to Coakley.
People who go out to hear candidates speak at events are a highly self selected group of high education, high information voters. From what I can tell from following on Facebook-at this phase in the campaign those are the kinds of events he is still most comfortable in and that is a huge problem. They may have gotten him further in the convention but what should have been the foundation ended up being a peak.
Helena compares Berwick to Warren in her letter above, I think, because both of them have inspired fervent grassroots support, bringing new people, including those not politically active before, into the campaign. Both candidates came into the public eye from outside the political system, and are known for applying their core, specific areas of expertise to broader, more fundamental issues. In Warren’s case, her core expertise is bankruptcy, and this grew into her fight to defend the middle class from the deceptions of the financial industry. In Berwick’s case, his core expertise is healthcare, and he understands its relevance to social equity as well as the economic health of the Commonwealth. Both became VERY high profile targets for the GOP in Washington because of their principled, outspoken views, especially on behalf of the marginalized. Whether Berwick was an active campaigner, volunteer, or contributor to Warren’s campaign in 2012 is immaterial. That has nothing to do with the comparison in Helena’s letter. (And, anyway, how would you know whether Berwick contributed $5, or anything, to Warren’s campaign? Those public contribution records are incomplete – I know that mine is.) And, nobody is saying that Warren endorses him, or any candidate. In her letter, Helena is pointing out something that is obvious to Berwick supporters. Like so many others, I was a first-time delegate in 2012 and became more active in politics than I’d ever been before because I was inspired by Warren as somebody whose expertise, passion and fresh perspective we really needed. I feel the same way about Berwick. THIS is what Helena is conveying in her words, “If you like Elizabeth Warren you will LOVE Don Berwick!”
To margot’s comment that Berwick says “let me lead you” and doesn’t recognize the importance of grassroots support, that sounds like (for lack of a less dismissive word that would be adequate) nonsense to anybody who’s actually been involved in the effort. His campaign is all about grassroots action.
but the cross-tabs show Berwick’s support to be heavily weighted toward those earning $100,000 or more per year and pretty light in the other income brackets.
There’s a campaign manager somewhere who is spending too much time with his electronic device.
sorry kbusch, I’m unclear what “cross-tabs” you’re referring too, what is meant by “support” (volunteers, funding, polling numbers?). Can you please elaborate? A link maybe?
Globe’s crosstabs
Page 44 and 47 will have the information you need. Berwick is 3-2-7% favorable between less than 50K, 50k-100k and over 100k income brackets.
All very low numbers for someone with a statewide primary 8 days from now, but still skewed toward the 100k+ bracket as kbusch noted.
Whereas the “don’t knows” are skewed toward the lowest income bracket. Not sure what to make of any of these numbers (or what the margin of error is for any of them) but the poll that counts will happen on the 9th! 😉
And, is it true that this poll was among all likely voters in MA, not necessarily likely primary voters? Somebody said this on a phone call tonight though, honestly, I missed exactly which poll they were talking about.
…they probably got people likely to vote in the primary. The first question in the poll was probably, “How likely are you to vote in the primary on September 9th?”