National Nurses United

RAD 12/12/06 12:42 PM Page 9 Rose Ann DeMoro Executive Director, CNA/NNOC Change Will Come Though we didn't win all we wanted in the November elections, the results signaled that the public wants genuine healthcare reform. many, many thank yous for moving the agenda for democracy. Nationally, voters delivered a stinging rebuke to policies that have produced a disastrous war in Iraq, an ever-accelerating healthcare crisis, and widening economic disparity. In California, though ballot initiatives that would have improved the quality of life and enhanced democracy were defeated, what was achieved was enormous. We have opened a door on economic and political democracy that will never be closed. Though Prop. 89 did not pass, it is more evident than ever that the fundamental reform it represents is coming. In Maine, where nurses recently joined NNOC, Clean Money elections have made it possible for six RNs to be elected to the state legislature since campaign finance reform became law. On election eve, the Philadelphia Inquirer wrote: "Maine took the focus off big donors and shifted it to all voters. This means that people like Edgar Bronfman are constituents like everybody else, with an idea to share or a problem that needs solving. The volume of people's voices is not dependent on the size of their wallets. In Maine, a waitress and a millionaire may shop at different stores and stand on different sides of the counter, but when it comes to our elected officials, they are equals." With Proposition 89, our California Clean Money initiative, we were blessed with one of the largest coalitions of supporters in history: groups and individuals who put the public interest first. We met a staggering number of people who were eager for change, and who cheered us on in our fight against Arnold Schwarzenegger and his faux new "democratic" agenda. People who were eager to sign all petitions to get Prop. 89 on the ballot and NOVEMBER 2006 attend rallies and phone banks. People who were excited about Prop. 87, which would have moved us toward a system of alternative energy. Unfortunately, that support did not translate into a majority of the votes cast in the second-lowest turnout election in state history – with less than 19 percent of the population, representing a voting demographic that bore no resemblance to the overall California population. There was also a vast corporate conglomeration – a veritable Who's Who of the corporate world – against us. While the press documents political corruption daily, they did little to help demonstrate the value that Proposition 89 could help to restore democracy. It was almost a parody as editors would write about the unfairness of Proposition 89 in curbing corporate power and giving too much power to nurses. Aside from our intense concentration on the Clean Money campaign, we were instrumental in multiple races in California. At the state level, two CNA/NNOC-endorsed candidates won very hard-fought races against well-funded opponents. State Sen. Debra Bowen was elected Secretary of State over Bruce McPherson, Schwarzenegger's appointee to the position. Bowen will be the only woman in California holding a statewide office. Insurance Commissioner John Garamendi also won a tight race against a very conservative State Sen. Tom McClintock to become California's next Lieutenant Governor. In the State Assembly, 32 of 36 CNA/ NNOC-endorsed candidates won, and seven of eight won in the Senate. Several new assemblymembers are more progressive, such as Jared Huffman replacing Joe Nation in Marin/Sonoma County. At the local level, CNA endorsed two RNs, Carol Rogers and June A. Snow – who both won their respective races for the Eden Hospital District W W W. C A L N U R S E S . O R G Board and the Antelope Valley Healthcare District Board. NEW MANDATE FOR HEALTHCARE REFORM in other states, it was far more voter involvement that made a significant difference. There is now a mandate to end the war in Iraq and invest in healthcare in the U.S. A Harris Interactive poll on the eve of the election found that more than one-fourth of voters rated healthcare as the issue that would have the "largest impact on your decision on whom to vote for." And that by 64 percent to 31 percent, voters had a negative opinion of President Bush's handling of healthcare – and that his ratings on healthcare were worse than for his handling of nine other issues, including Iraq, taxes, and the economy. Moreover, a separate Wall Street Journal/Harris Interactive poll established that reducing the number of the uninsured was the single top priority for action on healthcare identified by voters. What these polls – and the election of a new Congress indicate – is that there is a new opportunity for significant progress on genuine healthcare reform following the November election. In Illinois, three of four CNA/NNOC endorsements for state congressional seats won on Nov. 7. These victories, coupled with our newly-empowered members in the state, put us in a better position than ever to fight for – and win – progressive legislation that our members and our patients care about, such as ratios. We should be so proud to be the CNA/ NNOC. The creativity and intelligence of the nurses in campaigning throughout the country was truly inspired. In California, we conducted the most colorful activist-based campaign in the country. The groups that worked on campaign finance reform were unbelievably dedicated and worked night after night after night phone banking. (Continued on page 13) REGISTERED NURSE 9

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