NV Dems mark one month of Bartergate, announcing video contest winner
It's been one month after GOP Senate candidate Sue Lowden suggested that Nevadans should barter with their doctors for health care as an alternative to the meaningful health insurance reform passed by Sen. Harry Reid, and she's still on the defensive.
First came the jokes on late night comedy shows. Then the criticisms of Lowden’s “plan” to trade chickens and goats for health care from Nevada and national media outlets. And then even local and national Republicans – including one-time allies – piled on Lowden, questioning whether she’s “ ready for prime time.”
And through it all, creative Nevadans have had fun using humorous videos to highlight how ridiculous Lowden's Chickens for Checkups plan really is. Today the Nevada State Democratic Party announces the winner of its search for the best of those videos.
The winner, chosen by voters, is titled “How Many Chickens?” and is set to the tune of “Blowing in the Wind” by Bob Dylan. “How many chickens do I have to pay / the doctor to get a cat scan? / How many houses do I have to paint / to take off that wart on my hand?” croons the singer.
Thousands have viewed footage of Democrats delivering a goat and chickens to Sue Lowden’s campaign headquarters, of the candidate defending her suggestion that Nevadans should barter with their doctors for care over and over and of late-night hosts and mainstream political commentators lampooning Lowden.
But hundreds of thousands of Nevadans will be affected by the meaningful health insurance reform Sen. Reid shepherded through the Senate.
Republicans like Sue Lowden may think Chickens for Checkups is a serious proposal for fixing this country’s broken health insurance system. But Democrats, led by Sen. Reid, know that tax cuts for small business, free preventive care for seniors, ending of discrimination based on preexisting condition, relief for seniors who fall in the Medicare doughnut hole and the countless other benefits brought by health insurance reform are the real solution.