The moment we’re born, there are healthcare professionals helping us. And as Senator Bernie Sanders reminded the California Nurses Association conference today, these professionals are also there on the bad days. “You’re there in some of the most terrible moments of a person’s life, in a family’s life. You’re there at the end of a person’s life,” Senator Sanders solemnly says, his voice booming over the PA.
Sanders recognizes that the nurses belong to what he calls “one of the greatest unions in America.” He’s addressing professionals who have gone on strike, fought for their patients, and still find time to gather and form community at the annual conference.
Sanders knows all of this, and recognizes it with all due respect. And then he absolutely RIPS into the current system. “The system is working very well,” he ruefully smiles. It’s working well at its function. And the function, he explains, is to “make huge profits for the insurance companies and for the drug companies.” Sanders tells the crowd the current system is totally broken. But he promises it’s all about to change.
Senator Bernie Sanders, speaking to California nurses. Photo taken by Bunny McFadden for BAS.
See, Sanders sounds confident that the Democrats are about to flip the narrative. And when that happens, he’ll be the chair of the U.S. Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pension Committee.
That’s when Sanders gets quiet and looks toward the audience with a strange fire in his eyes. He’s still quite a character, at 85 years old.
“And whether he likes it or not,” Sanders promises, Abdul El-Sayed, a doctor from Michigan who is running a race absolutely swamped with money, will get an assignment. Sanders is going to put El-Sayed on the committe right alongside him.
“It’s one of the great moral issues of our time,” Sanders says. And once again, he’s somber, perhaps reflecting on his own morality. “Disease is a terrible thing, and all of us are going to get sick one day or another. But at the very least, a civilized democratic society can make sure that we take the financial burden of sickness off the backs of our people.” He thanks the nurses, gives a friendly wave, and disappears.
The nurses roar.
Puneet Maharaj, the executive director of the California Nurses Association/National Nurses Organizing Committee (CNA/NNOC), comes out next. She’s here to introduce someone they’re all looking forward to seeing, a healthcare professional just like them.
Puneet Maharaj, Executive Director, speaks to California Nurses about fascism. Photo taken by Bunny McFadden for BAS.
“He’s fighting with just as much militancy and care as union nurses do to win our vision for a healthy society for all,” Maharaj promises of the special guest, keeping his name secret for just a few more moments. “And I can say with confidence that when the mighty mighty nurses are behind him, we know that he is going to win.”
She’s talking about Abdul El-Sayed.
When El-Sayed comes out, he’s smiling in Nikes and black jeans, hands momentarily in his pocket like he’s a shy kid on the first day of school. He warms up as he gets closer to the stage, and it’s clear he’s more than just a doctor to these people.
He’s the champion they’ve been waiting for.
Much of El-Sayed’s speech is familiar to you if you’re not living under a rock. He’s gotten wildly popular on social media and has plenty of attention from national media, if not all positive. In fact, the one and only question the Fox News media person asks him is about how he’s managed to get an endorsement from both Bernie Sanders and Kamala Harris, “two very different wings of the Democratic Party.” She asks, “What does your candidacy say about the direction of the party?”
It’s a question top of mind for everyone from San Francisco to Michigan to DC. And El-Sayed has an answer locked and loaded.
“We built a campaign the old-fashioned way. We went everywhere, we talked to everyone.” But he says there are people he left out. “I didn’t ask the likes of Big Pharma or Big Tech or our local utility to pay for my campaigns,” he says. “I don’t take their money and I don’t want to work for them. I want to work for the people.”
Pundits say this ability to thread a needle between entrenched camps is what’s giving El-Sayed an edge. He continues, “I’ve had a lot of conversations with colleagues, some of whom agree with me on everything, some of whom don’t. But nobody gets into this because they want to do favors for corporations,” he says. Then he smiles.
Abdul El-Sayed, smiling. Photo taken by Bunny McFadden for BAS.
“Well, maybe Mike Rogers. Different story. But they get into this because they want to do good things for people. And for too long, people have said that the only way you can really succeed is you’re going to have to do a deal with the corporations to figure out how to get the power.”
He looks at the small gaggle of media, including your humble narrator, “No you don’t. You don’t. You really can do good things for people. You really can step up and do this the old fashioned way, have conversations with people, inspire people to believe something.”
And then El-Sayed gets into the arguably most controversial speech this journalist has heard yet. Be forewarned, you will likely disagree.
Abdul El-Sayed, speaking to reporters. Photo taken by Bunny McFadden for BAS.
“This is a race in the state of Michigan,” he begins. “Michigan is the heartland. Michigan is the most important state in the country.” He claims Michigan has the best cherries in the country, best football teams, best pizza, best music. And he says it’s the most important state in the country because of its role in the Great Migration, the union movement, and Motown.
Sorry, California, but he’s pretty compelling. Makes us want to book a trip.
El-Sayed’s speech to the nurses, and his conversations afterward with media, are a powerful reminder of something we’ve long missed. He’s asked why Bernie Sanders is such an effective messenger, and he says, “It’s the willingness to say the same thing everywhere, anywhere. No matter who you’re talking to.”
El-Sayed continues. “Too often, I think what people hate about politicians is that they say different things to different people… Bernie has been saying the same thing to everybody since he started in politics, which is before I was born.”
And similarly, El-Sayed is on message. And he’s not backing down.
But he did give a shoutout to Broke-Ass Stuart, quipping, "He's probably too broke for healthcare."
