As we all set out to our various phonebanking activities, I wanted to share a theme that has been surprisingly successful in winning over Republican and Independent Voters I've come into contact with. It's universal health care.
I've found that most voters give me the "welfare" frame when I engage them on universal health care. The why-should-I-pay-for-someone-else-to-be-lazy welfare meme. But when I frame it in terms of a competitive economy, helping small business, etc., I see a little lightbulb go off. The "ahhhhh, I never thought about it like that" light bulb. And I've converted a few votes. Thought I'd share the themes that seem to work.
I give examples after the jump.
First, my brother. He owns a small construction business. Die-hard, and all of us sisters have working on him this election. Finally I starting asking what health care costs his business, how many times he needs workers but doesn't want to take them on because of added fringe costs (and so therefore just works over time himself), if he thought having a more flexible labor force would be good for him. The light bulb went off. "Yeah" he says, "sometimes I don't hire someone I'm not sure I'll need over the long haul because, not just the health care/fringe cost, but because I think I'll feel responsible for his family once he's got his wife and the kids on my plan. How will I be able to get rid of him?"
Then, one of my students. A thirty-something not-really-ever-thought-much-about-it-but-my-dad-voted-Reagan-and-the-Dems-are-incompetent. He'd been stuck in a dead-end job, hating it, but stayed for the health care benefits. It was only after he was fired that he returned to school. I pointed out how it would have been better for him, and for the US economy as a whole, if he'd felt free to go back to school and upgrade his skills. Instead, his potential was wasted because he had to have health insurance. That can't be good for anyone. He was a convert.
Third is my BIL who is a bank examiner and a self-affirmed "fiscal conservative." Well one would think that been so close to the banking meltdown would be enough to swing him but no go. I had an opening when the Supreme Court ruling came down in late June and he said "well, now that I know I can keep my gun, I don't HAVE to vote Republican." So I argued the pure "American Competitiveness" position. Companies straddled with health care, inflexible labor arrangements, isn't good. When some companies are "nice enough" to pay or who want to get the best workers DO carry health insurance, they are undercut by companies that don't pay for health care. Chinese companies don't bear this cost, I pointed out.
Finally, an over-seventy woman on my block. Obama makes her nervous. He doesn't have enough experience. She's not sure who bombed the World Trade Center and wasn't going to talk about the war. So I talked health care. How is her health? How is the cost of medication? Isn't it too bad that eyeglasses and teeth aren't covered by Medicare? What if she never had to get another health-related bill in her life? Her eyes lit up with that.
Oh, and for most of these people there is always the question of "but I've heard there are LINES in countries with universal health care, you have to wait FOREVER for stuff." I admitted that was true; there is a longer wait (but not that much longer), but that is because THERE ARE MORE PEOPLE IN LINE. And, lucky you, you also get to be one of the people in line. In the US we keep the queue short by kicking people out of the line (not letting them access health care at all). It's not that we are more efficient in health-care delivery in the US, rather its that we try to keep as many people out as possible. They seem to grasp that intuitively.
Maybe these talking points will help others who are phone-banking or canvassing this weekend. Thanks.