| By Lorraine Bieber - Jun 26th, 2009 at 4:34 pm EDT |
As Bret mentioned, we are indeed recuperating from the long bus ride, while gathering up to head to ComFest so we can continue healthcare outreach there throughout the weekend. Full report of our June 25 experience coming soon. Here's a quick summary, however.
Crowd estimates for the national Health Care for America Now (HCAN) rally have been as high as 15,000. Senator Sherrod Brown was among the main speakers and was fantastic.
Our Ohio Town Hall Meeting was standing room only (400 attendees) and Representatives Mary Jo Kilroy (OH-15) and Tim Ryan (OH-17) spoke, along with AFL-CIO's Tim Burga and many others. I spoke briefly about HCAN's principles and the members of Ohio's Congressional delegation who have signed on as supporters of those principles (Mary Jo Kilroy, Tim Ryan, Steve Driehaus, Marcia Fudge, Marcy Kaptur, Zack Space, Charlie Wilson, Betty Sutton, and John Boccieri). Full list of 190+ congressional sign-ons here.
Big takeaways from the day for me: 1. The diverse movement for healthcare reform is unified - we're standing strongly together for the public plan. 2. We have elected officials who are fighting for us in Congress. 3. All parties involved in the June 25th events understand that this was just one expression of nation-wide solidarity - we're going to keep going until we win quality, affordable healthcare for all.
Kudos to HCAN national staff for putting together the national rally program, lunch, buses, etc., and to all the partner organizations that made the day such a success.
Media coverage:
Youtube- Sen. Sherrod Brown is at :48 to 3:21.
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