LTC Bullet: LTC Gadflies in Iowa Thursday,
February 1, 2007 Seattle-- LTC
Comment: The ranks of
presidential candidates are bulging already.
They're descending on Iowa because of that state's early
"caucuses." But
LTC isn't on the political radar screen yet.
Wanna do something about that?
LTC
BULLET: LTC GADFLIES IN
IOWA LTC
Comment: After our LTC
Bullet titled "LTC Gadflies" last week (read it in The Zone at
http://www.centerltc.com/bullets/latest/672.htm),
we received dozens of positive replies from Center members. That
Bullet proposed a nationwide campaign to raise the national
consciousness about long-term care public policy and personal planning. We proposed to bird-dog the 2008 political candidates and ask
them the tough policy and personal questions about long-term care.
We invited readers to join us. One
reply we received to this clarion call was especially interesting.
The president of a PR firm in Iowa wrote to urge us not to wait
until 2008, but to start immediately in Iowa, where presidential
campaigning is already gearing up big time.
He offered advice pro bono on how to proceed and opined
that "Many candidates, and potential candidates, are stopping
regularly, and it is a good time to get issues before them in small
groups where the candidates are very actively and competitively looking
for support." So,
we polled the Center's membership in Iowa about their interest in
pushing LTC onto the political agenda.
We received some enthusiastic replies.
They agreed to circulate the following announcement among their
friends and colleagues in Iowa to see if we can arouse enough interest
to support this initiative. We're
sending the same announcement to you in today's LTC Bullet with this
request. If you know people
in Iowa who might be interested, please forward this message to them.
If they'd like to participate, have them contact me at smoses@centerltc.com.
I'll forward this invitation to them on Center for Long-Term Care
Reform letterhead for wider distribution and sign them up to receive
future announcements. Let's
see where this leads. If
enough Iowans are willing to write a letter to the editor of their local
newspaper or attend a candidate forum and raise the LTC issue, I'll
pitch in by drafting model letters, op-eds, and articles to advance the
cause. ------------- Dear
Iowa Friends: You
are probably not members of the Center for Long-Term Care Reform (www.centerltc.com),
but I hope you know who we are and what we're trying to achieve. That
is: universal access to top quality long-term care for all Americans,
privately financed by insurance whenever possible. To
achieve that goal, we have to get long-term care to the top of the
political agenda. A good
way to do that is to get presidential candidates to think about the
issue and to go on the record. The best way to do that is to reach them
when they're most reachable. That's where you Iowan advocates of LTC
insurance come in. The
following letter was drafted by a PR firm in Iowa that has volunteered
to help us, pro bono if necessary, to reach the candidates, ask them the
tough personal and policy questions about long-term care, and secure the
national media coverage necessary to raise the country's consciousness
about the risk and cost of LTC. Please
read the following brief message and if you can participate, let me know
by email at smoses@centerltc.com
or by phone at 206-283-7036. If you say "I'm in," I'll keep
you in the loop, prepare draft letters to the editor you can use, write
op-eds for publication in local papers, and come to Iowa myself if it
will help. Now, here's the
appeal. Thanks for your
consideration. Between
now and January 14, 2008, Iowans will have a tremendous opportunity to
assist in elevating long term care issues onto the national policy
stage. In less then a year the Iowa Caucuses will kick off the
Presidential Primary Season as they have since 1976. The
Caucuses provide a golden opportunity to engage candidates for our
nation's highest office in one-to-one, detailed conversations regarding
specific policy issues. The national media track these "policy
trends" and the candidates' responses, and they share the
candidates' positions with the rest of the nation. Each
of the nearly two dozen candidates and potential candidates for the
Presidency will be crisscrossing the state of Iowa in the coming months.
Whether it is a large rally in Iowa City or setting up a "listening
post" in a café in tiny Primghar - virtually every corner of the
state will receive multiple visits from these prospective candidates.
One of these candidates will be the next President of the United States.
As
Iowans, you enjoy a unique opportunity to be "courted" for
your support by Presidential hopefuls. Unlike larger primary state
contests that are held later in the process, the Iowa Caucus campaigns
are not driven by television ads and large gatherings. The Iowa Caucuses
are retail enterprises with street level, person-to-person interaction
between candidates and voters. If
we are serious about gaining attention for the massive, looming
financial crisis in long-term care in the United States, there can be no
better opportunity than the build up to the Iowa Caucuses for getting
our message out. Candidates are already visiting Iowa, and events are
being scheduled. Major political party events are held in August and
October where our presence is critical to get the message to the
candidates. In
the coming weeks, we will be gauging the level of effort we can engage
for a "Caucus Project" designed to raise awareness of long
term care issues. To that end, the Center for LTC Reform is surveying
our Iowa members and contacts to determine your level of interest in
this awareness campaign. If
you are interested in providing assistance to this effort, please let me
know. Based on the level of response we receive, we can better determine
how best to promote our issues with the 2008 Presidential hopefuls.
If
you decide to participate, even to the extent of committing to write one
letter to the editor or attend a single candidate forum, we'll give you
a free membership in the Center for Long-Term Care Reform for the
duration of this project. That's
a $150 value and includes our daily LTC Bullets and E-Alerts,
if you want them, and access to our password protected website "The
Zone" including our new comprehensive "Almanac of Long-Term
Care." Help
us take the message of rational long-term care public policy and
responsible personal long-term care planning to our national political
elite as they circulate through Iowa this year. Thanks
for your consideration. Sincerely, Steve
Moses Stephen
A. Moses, President The Center for Long-Term Care Reform, Inc. is a private institute dedicated to ensuring quality long-term care for all Americans. Sign up for our LTC Bullets online newsletter and become a member of the Center at www.centerltc.com. |