Yesterday, I had the honor of “walking” with Don Berwick in the Marlborough Labor Day Parade. Let me explain why I put the word “walking” in quotation marks.
Before the parade began, I volunteered to be one of two people who would follow Don around on the parade route to collect contact information from spectators he talked to. Equipped with a clipboard full of sign-up sheets, a pen, and a water bottle, I made my way to the front of the mass of Berwick staff and volunteers as we started the parade. Don approached his first spectator on the route and gave her his pitch on why he wants to be the next Governor of Massachusetts. After about a minute, he shook hands with the woman and moved on. I then quickly jumped in to try to collect her contact information. Once the woman had finished writing down her information (another 60 seconds or so), I looked up and was startled to see Don 100 meters down the street already talking to another spectator! I literally sprinted to catch up to him and this process repeated nonstop throughout the parade. Don probably covered twice as much ground as all the rest of us by crisscrossing the road, talking to as many potential voters as he could, while also not falling too far behind the rest of the Berwick group.
So for those of you who are worried about potential health issues that this senior-citizen candidate might have (fun fact: Don will turn 68 on the day of the Primary), don’t worry! As Don said in this great 90.9 WBUR interview, “he expects another 30 years of vigorous, vital work, which he hopes will include the corner office on Beacon Hill.”
Don Berwick is working his tail off to become our next Governor. Fourteen-hour days on the campaign trail are the norm for him and I have been inspired by Don’s field and fundraising teams, who push themselves relentlessly, working seven days a week around the clock. (I should also note that I don’t mean to imply that Martha, Steve, and their respective teams have been working any less hard. I have enormous respect for Don’s Democratic competitors.)
I am still convinced in spite of low polling numbers that Don is the best Democratic candidate to take on Charlie Baker. If you do too, Don will need your help more than every before in this final week before the primary. Sign up to volunteer! Donate to the campaign! Or do both! And give Don Berwick the best birthday present of all by casting your vote for him on September 9th 🙂
Great story, jbrach2014. Let’s not forget that all the Dem candidates are in their sixties and Steve and Don are about the same age. 🙂 Wishing Don Berwick the happiest of birthdays next week!
Good luck to you and your candidate!
Casinos, nationally, are cutting back, closing their doors, revising down their expected revenue.
Elizabeth Warren comes out against casinos at the labor event yesterday.
Headlines today about rising healthcare costs in Massachusetts with Partners Health Care as one of the largest increases.
Meanwhile, Medicare continues to work better than expected.The reduced estimates are also an indication of what’s happening in the overall health care system. Even as more people are getting access to health insurance, the costs of caring for individual patients is growing at a super-slow rate. That means that health care, which has eaten into salary gains for years and driven up debt and bankruptcies, may be starting to stabilize as a share of national spending.
Medicare for all will provide better care for all and be more economical for the state.
Now if only we had someone running for governor on these issues…..
In college, my friends gave me the nickname “world’s loudest human”, and I think I’ve gotten louder since then! I led many of the chants as we walked:
Lather, rinse, repeat…WOOOHOOO!!!