DNC vice chair tells Democrats to unify, fight Obamacare replacement

June 25--Speaking to central Iowa Democrats on Saturday in Ames, Democratic National Committee Vice Chair Michael Blake urged action, telling the crowd that the people who would be affected by the Affordable Care Act replacement bill don't care about the divisions left in the party by the 2016 election.

"People don't want us to bicker right now," he told the crowd of more than 100. "They want us to help them."

Blake was the keynote speaker at the Big Tent on the Prairie event at the Alluvial Brewing Company in north Ames, a fundraiser for the Boone, Hamilton, Hardin and Story County Democratic parties and the Iowa State University Democrats. The audience actually gathered under two large white tents under partly overcast skies, helping themselves to food and drink. Before Blake, four Democratic gubernatorial candidates -- Cathy Glasson, Andy McGuire, Jon Neiderbach and Todd Prichard -- each gave short introductory speeches.

Also a New York assemblyman representing the Bronx, Blake, 35, framed his 25-minute speech around the theme of diversity and criticized the health care bill -- which Democrats say will leave millions without health insurance -- that the U.S. Senate is scheduled to vote on later this week. His speech built up from a laid-back conversational tone at the beginning to a crescendo of fiery statements on his vision for the Democratic Party.

"Diversity means we are excited to fight together," he said. "That means we have to stop fighting each other. The election has come and gone. We've learned lessons from it, but now the question is, What will we do to help the people?"

That enthusiasm was no doubt refreshing to the Iowa Democrats in the audience, who have had a tough first half of 2017. Since the 2016 election, Democrats' elected influence has shrunk both in Iowa and at the U.S. Capitol.

"It just doesn't feel very good right now," Ames Democrat Bryon Dudley said before the speeches. "There's days when it's really difficult to understand why, you know?"

Several Democrats said they attended at least in part to show support or solidarity with the party. Blake's speech drew multiple rounds of applause and ended with a standing ovation when he almost yelled himself hoarse by repeating, "Embrace our diversity, for that is who we are."

Along with the gubernatorial candidate's own enthusiastic speeches, the afternoon could've been a shot in the arm for the local Democrats.

"It seems to me that the crowd was inspired," said Paxton Williams, an Iowa State graduate and a Democrat living in Des Moines. "It seems to me that the crowd was left inspired by all of the speakers."

Since the 2016 election ended, the DNC has been trying to repair the divisions within its ranks caused by the Hillary Clinton-Bernie Sanders primary battle. On Saturday, Blake, who worked on President Barack Obama's Iowa campaign team in 2008, said that while some disagreement is healthy, it's time to leave 2016 in the past and embrace unity as the Republicans try to pass their Obamacare replacement bill.

He mentioned the Congressional Budget Officer report on the U.S. House of Representatives version of the bill that said the American Health Care Act would leave 23 million people uninsured by 2026. A CBO score for the Senate bill is expected early this week. If Republicans manage to pass it before the July 4 recess, Blake told the crowd to "vote them out and give them a permanent recess."

"They don't give a damn about your bumper sticker," he said, talking about those who would lose insurance. "They don't care about where you came from. They want to know will you fight for them. Will you stand up for them? What are you going to do for them right now? Democrats, we fight for opportunity for all. The Republicans are fighting for the opportunity for 1 percent. We can't allow that right now. That is who we are."

That call for a united front was probably music to the ears of Carol Brannon, a member of the Story County Democratic Party. She and her husband supported Sanders in the presidential primary and had trouble even finding his local campaign office. Before Blake spoke, Brannon said she wanted to talk to him about making sure each Democratic candidate got enough support.

"No one should be shut out of the Democratic Party," she said.

The candidates

Saturday afternoon was also a chance for the four 2018 gubernatorial candidates to make an initial impression on some local Democrats, panning Iowa's current Republican leadership and vowing to fix the state's health care problems and collective bargaining rights for public employees.

Glasson, who's the president of a local nursing union in Iowa, criticized the bill lawmakers passed that greatly limited unions' collective bargaining power.

"This governor and this Legislature, with the stroke of a pen, stripped bargaining rights from 184,000 hard-working public employees dedicated to our communities," she said.

Prichard said the law took away wage-earning power from teachers like his wife. He said if elected, he would issue an executive order on his first day in office to "restore collective bargaining rights."

A doctor, McGuire vowed to fix the Medicaid crisis in the state and ensure low-income and disabled Iowans keep receiving medical care. The former Iowa Democratic Party chair also said she'd restore funding to Planned Parenthood in the state.

"As a doctor, I will definitely go there," she said.

The four candidates represented only half of the Democratic field that could grow even more as primary season gets closer. Gov. Kim Reynolds, who took over when Terry Branstad became the U.S. ambassador to China, will try to keep her office. She will at least have one challenger, Cedar Rapids Mayor Ron Corbett.

"We have an amazing field," Neiderbach said. "Ron Corbett and Kim Reynolds should be very afraid."

The Republican Party of Story County will hold it's seventh-annual Judge Joseph Story Dinner on July 7 in Nevada, where Nebraska Sen. Ben Sasse is scheduled to be the keynote speaker.

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