Pressing for Answers
By William D. Novelli, Chief Executive Officer
July 2007
At a recent campaign stop in Iowa, Republican presidential hopeful Tommy Thompson looked out upon the sea of AARP members in the audience sporting red Divided We Fail shirts and said, “Wow, the red T-shirts again.”
Yes, the red shirts again. And with the help of all those wearing them—our dedicated members and volunteers—our drive to make health care and financial security top issues in the 2008 presidential election campaign is beginning to take root.
Contenders Sen. Hillary Clinton, John Edwards and Sen. Barack Obama have all introduced proposals for health care reform. Thompson, former secretary of U.S. Health and Human Services, and former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee have made health care cornerstones of their campaigns. Gov. Bill Richardson, Sen. Chris Dodd, Rudy Giuliani, Sen. Mike Gravel, Rep. Dennis Kucinich and Mitt Romney, who as governor of Massachusetts enacted a law requiring residents to have insurance, have proposed ways to cover most of the nation’s 44.8 million uninsured.
I’ve been wearing my red shirt on recent trips to Iowa, New Hampshire and other states. Divided We Fail voters are out in force describing their experiences with our broken health system. They’re pressing candidates on their plans to reduce health care costs, cover the uninsured and improve the quality of medical care. They’re pushing, too, for candidates’ ideas for financing a secure retirement.
Thousands of people have already taken the Divided We Fail pledge to support candidates who promise action on health and financial security. Concerned members are sending us their stories, like this one from Robert H. in Wisconsin:
“In May of 2006 I had an emergency surgery, soon after my insurance company dropped me. In February of 2007, after a freak fall on the ice, I learned I had a completely blocked carotid artery and had suffered a stroke. I do not have any health care, as I am self-employed and cannot afford it. I am trying to get insurance through the state, but if I can’t I only have two options: to financially ruin my family by seeking further treatment or enjoy whatever time I have with my family. I worry that when I die, my family will not even have enough to bury me, as we are now over $20,000 in debt. I have worked hard all my life, given my kids a good education and my family a modest home; now I am literally forced to make a decision between life and death. We thought we were living the American dream with hard work and no debt, paying cash all the way. Now our dream has turned into a health nightmare.”
Powerful stories like Robert’s remind us why health and financial security issues are so important to all of us. People are worried, and they’re upset over the job politicians are doing—or not doing—to address these issues. We see AARP’s role as collecting stories, helping people speak out and getting candidates at all levels, especially presidential candidates, to commit to fixing these problems.
The 2008 presidential campaign has barely begun, so we have a long way to go to get candidates and the media to focus on health and financial security. But let’s be clear from the start: These issues are important to us, and as voters we will hold them accountable for their actions.
To take the Divided We Fail pledge and to tell your story through our “Millions of Voices for Change” campaign, go to www.dividedwefail.org.
