The rally was organized by Organizing for America, President Obama’s group. I wasn’t too excited about going, and at first it was dispiriting. The signs by the organizers said nothing about a Public Option, let alone a robust public option, let alone single payer. We came with single payer signs, and were happy to find that many other people also had single payer or public option signs. But in general, we felt like people were being softened up for a big cave-in on Wednesday.
Then came the speeches. Representatives Tierney and Capuano, both of whom are among the 65 Democratic health care heroes who have pledged not to support any bill that does not contain a robust public option, gave outstanding speeches, strongly supporting a public option. Representative Capuano also supported single payer in his speech. Both were enthusiastically cheered. Then came Representative Lynch, who has been singularly unenthusiastic about public option. He started talking vaguely about “universal care”. Suddenly, the crowd came to life. These very proper Bostonians, median age probably somewhere between 50 and 60, started chanting “public option” over and over again. Nobody there could doubt why all those people had come out on a beautiful Labor Day when we all would rather have been doing something else. Representative Lynch cut his speech short.
I am writing this diary just to underscore how strong, deep and serious the support for public option is around the country – undoubtedly for single payer as well. Make no mistake – if President Obama comes through for us on Wednesday there will be a groundswell of enthusiasm that will lead to the passage of a good health care bill. This enthusiasm will then generate demand for all the other things we want – green energy, the return of our civil liberties, employee free choice act and the right to organize unions, an end to fruitless wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and the use of diplomacy rather than war to handle international disputes. We will gain, not lose, seats in the House and Senate in the 2010 elections. We will have a future we all can look forward to.
Sue Offner
I was at the rally as well and as a 20 year advocate for Universal Health care it was an uplifting experience. As I was pressing the flesh and talking to people I was impressed with how many people were for single payer. It was encouraging.
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p>Last week at the Mayoral debate in Roxbury a question came up about public health and I spoke at length about why I support
a Universal Health care program similar to Japan or Western Europe. Again, a loud applause that made me think that people really do get this and they are ready for our leaders to lead on this issue, which I believe is the number one thing progressives should be advocating for.
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p>Have a great weekend.
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p>Kevin McCrea
Lynch is hoping to win the Democratic primary with the vote of people in the Democratic Party who don’t agree with the values and policies of that party. Not off to a great start.
There may be more of us than you know. Most of the “old fashioned” Truman, Henry Jackson democrats don’t visit this blog. But we vote.
I’m a proud lunch-bucket Democrat. I’m also aware that there are pro-labor Democrats who, unlike Lynch, also back the right to privacy and who, again unlike Lynch, don’t rush headlong into unnecessary wars.
…but experience shows it not to pan out. In 2007 special election to succeed Marty Meehan in Congress Jim Miceli thought he could corner the market on conservative Democrats while the other four candidates divided the moderate/progressive vote; long story short, he got trounced.
Truman and Scoop Jackson both dead and The Congressman from Brylcream has dead ideas.
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p>Let Mr. Brylcream stay in House where he can do limited damaged.
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p>With any luck we will have one of two women in the US Senate to replace Ted Kennedy – Senator Martha Coakley or Senator Victoria Reggie Kennedy.
What is your beef with Lynch?
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p>What/who/where is “Brylcream” and why do you use that refernce?
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p>You’ve made it abundantly clear you don’t like him; now it’s time to invoke the maxim that if you can’t say something nice about someone…
…the man in the ad looks like he could easily pass for a Kennedy! (just an observation)
He’s not my rep, so I mostly know about him through his position on the gulf war. I wrote him and Kerry to express dismay at their votes. Neither responded.
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p>What makes you a proud supporter?
I very much like the fact that he takes the time to study the issues and not follow the crowd. A good example of this was his not jumping on the bailout bandwagon and wasting billions of our money on Wall Street insiders. He has also been to Iraq several times and has not tried to become an instant expert as so many other politicians have. And I think that he is probably one of the few politicians, local or national, who has actually taken the time to study all of the health care proposals. I actually disagree with him on the issue because I favor a medicare approach with a universal VAT to which everyone contributes, but I know that when he speaks it is not just to pander to the crowd. (I can’t say the same for Kerry or Coakley). It’s the same reason that I like Barney Frank: they are not afraid to take a strong position once they have studied an issue. And, lastly, his office in Washington D. C. helped me and my family to visit both Houses of Congress a few years ago. They treated us really well, even though, like you, I am not in his district.
President Truman’s Proposed Health Program
at the rally on her commitment to the public option.
Thought her remarks were well-received. Tierney, Markey and Capuano were also spoke well. Lynch, as noted above, did not connect with this crowd due to not supporting a public option. We were right in front and many had signs calling Lynch out on this. IMHO, Lynch handled the crowd poorly. He needed to directly address the issue (“I know many people here are supporting a public option and would like me to do the same. Here’s why I haven’t made up my mind/here’s why I’m opposed. But there are many other reforms we can agree on…”) He tried to ignore the issue; the crowd was quite hostile as a result. We were a little uncomfortable with seeing him shouted down; it was rude, but Lynch could have handled himself better.
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p>Btw, it was nice to see you today. Sorry we missed you for breakfast.
the restaurant. We were actually ordering when I saw you leave, Ugh!
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p>I’m a big Martha Coakley fan, but a bigger supporter of single payer/public option. I applaud all candidates who recognize health care as a fundamental right.
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p>Lynch, couldn’t applaud the position he was expressing.
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p>I was standing very near the woman who started the chant. She started yelling, “Public Option: Do we have your vote?” and that’s how it continued, at least in our area.
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p>I had a mixed reaction and didn’t join in. I think it was good to get the message across, if he (Lynch) did get it. But I also realized that the crowd wasn’t giving him a chance to talk and asked myself if this behavior was any better than the people interrupting at the town meetings. I wonder what others think.
here’s what I’ve decided:
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p>This wasn’t a Town Hall. This wasn’t designed as a question and answer. This was a rally. Different atmosphere, different intention, different standards of behavior.
I, too, had a mixed reaction, but to address a health rally and not address the public option at all is just bizarre.
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p>If Lynch’s speech had dealt dealt with the public option directly, there would have been no chanting. Instead, as noted above, he talked vaguely about universal health care. It sounded like BS and people reacted. Pure and simple.
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p>Other speakers (e.g. Martha Coakley) made their positions crystal clear.
If I were Lynch’s adviser I would advise him to take a position on the public option. It might be nuanced but it must be taken. Right now, it is a wedge issue and he is on the wrong side.
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p>Lynch spent the summer reading HR 3200 so he knows it well. He called on Congressional research and other topic area specialists to explain and educate him on aspects of the bill that were not clear or obvious. He’s done his homework. Still, he is not forthcoming about what he does and doesn’t support including the public option.
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p>Lynch’s ability to manage an audience was on display at Curry. He is good.
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p>I have no doubt that instead of asking for the audience’s attention on the Common he decided that it would not be in his best interest to continue talking becuase he was not prepared to answer their most pressing question: Will you support this public plan?
I wanted to be there, but I’ve been busy getting my store ready to open – check out how I spent my labor day!
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p>We use keywords about green issues to highlight the top part of the walls in the space. First, you have to flatten them onto the wall using a squeegee…
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p>Then you strip the paper off and the words stay behind. They came out pretty good, eh?
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p>My grand opening is this Saturday, 9/12, starting at 9:30 am – Lt. Governor Murray will be cutting the ribbon for it, come on out and see that place!
Looks great! What’s the process for setting up the words? I’d love to do something like this in my house. lol.
Can you send me some details for the announcment in the Dispatch? THanks for your call. Kate
about three years ago, when asked about the risk of losing federal medicaid funds if massachusetts were (ie did) adopt healthcare reform including a public option, representative capuano went out of his way to tell me that he was flat-out against single-payer (though the subject of single payer had never even come up) and then droned on for ten minutes with some cockamamie story about waiting lists in canada to drive his point home.
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p>wonder what happened?
When somebody from MA starts in on the “waiting lists in Canada” talking-point, ask them how long it’s been since they tried to establish a new relationship with a GP in MA. Ask them if their wives or daughters have had to establish a relationship with an OB/GYN lately. How long did they have to wait the last time their doctor told them to see a dermatologist about that spot on their back?
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p>Or perhaps he sat down with his post-college 25 year old son or daughter to figure out how to get health insurance for them. You know, the one with $500/month in student loan payments, working in a coffee shop at $11/hour while they try and find a job in their field in the economic sewer that 20 years of failed GOP “economics” handed them.
but I too thought the crowd acted “very much like” the same people who were soundly criticized (on BMG) for not allowing the speaker to speak. A rally is not a Town Hall meeting but the same principle applies that speakers should be allowed to speak, whether you like the message or not. I would assume any shouters who would not allow “pro-PO’ speakers like Capuano to speak would be criticized for it.
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p>Congrats on the great day, the great turnout and the great weather!
are you waiting for your Republican party to pick the “right” candidate?
Rather than some people who throw in support for people who don’t even run (Bill Weld supports Jose Kennedy”, I’ll wait to see if there is even a Republican worth supporting. If none apply worth anything, I’m leaning towards Coakley since I’ll take a “prosecutor” any day over these career politicians (even though she is now a career politician).