Platform Fight: Activists Win Commitment to Guaranteed Care

posted by John Nichols on 08/09/2008
The Nation

"Of all the forms of inequality, injustice in health care is the most shocking and inhumane." -- Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

Pressured by progressive activists who objected to the tepid language in a draft document prepared by the Barack Obama campaign, the Democratic platform-writing committee reworked the party's official agenda Saturday to include a clear commitment "that every American man, woman and child be guaranteed to have affordable, comprehensive health care."

The official draft, which was adopted at the platform committee's gathering in Pittsburgh, will now be submitted to the Democratic National Convention for approval.

The platform is likely to adopted without a fight at the Denver convention where Illinois Senator Barack Obama will be nominated for president.

What is significant about the platform committee's endorsement of language calling for guaranteed health care for all is that the statement goes a good deal further than the Obama campaign would have preferred.

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