I voted for Ben McAdams, as did the majority of Salt Lake County voters. Ben’s numbers dropped in Juab, Sanpete and Utah counties. No surprise that this gerrymandered district fails to represent urban voters.
When Ben slings accusations at the left, though, I wince and think he needs to do a little soul-searching. Every single candidate who co-sponsored Rep. Pramila Jayapal’s 2019 Medicare for All legislation won reelection in 2020. Of the 93 cosponsors for the Green New Deal bill who ran for reelection, all but two won (and three of four co-sponsors in swing districts won).
Who lost? Well, 14 members of the New Democrat Coalition and Blue Dog caucus lost, groups Ben chose to align himself with. The Blue Dogs famously refused to vote for the Affordable Care Act in 2009, and the New Democrat Coalition likes to collect money from Big Pharma and the insurance and banking industries.
Ben should come clean on the campaign mailer that identified him as the American Life Sciences Innovation Council 2020 Champion of Health Care Innovation. What did he do to deserve this award? Apparently nothing. ALSIC is a 501(c)(4) that has no full-time staff, lists an address at a UPS store and has a five-person board of directors with deep ties to the pharmaceutical industry. Liz Cheney is a former recipient of this dubious award. This mailer did not identify Ben as a Democrat and threw out this zinger: “Some in Washington are playing politics by importing Europe’s failed socialist policies to set prescription drug prices for seniors.”
Are Ben and Burgess Owens sharing the same political consultants?
Christine B. Helfrich, Millcreek