Richard Kirsch Releases Fighting for Our Health

Roosevelt Institute Senior Fellow Richard Kirsch’s new book on the campaign for health care reform, Fighting for Our Health, hits shelves on February 1, 2012. Published through the Rockefeller Institute Press and distributed by SUNY Press, the book offers a vivid first-hand account of Kirsch’s experience as national campaign manager for Health Care for America Now (HCAN) during the epic battle that led to the passage of the Affordable Care Act.  Kirsch also draws from the experience a number of critical lessons that provide prescriptions for success in future policy debates.

“Having spent years on the front lines of the health care debate, my goal is to bring a fresh and informative perspective to the story of the biggest issue campaign in American history and highlight the vital role of grassroots organizing,” said Kirsch. “I wanted people today to see the effectiveness of well-focused strategic organizing to demand that government respond to people’s needs.”

Kirsch’s book recounts the strategic and ideological clashes between Obama administration officials, who Kirsch argues took an overly cautious approach to reform after cutting deals with health care industry insiders, and the progressive grassroots, which pushed for bolder measures such as a public insurance option.

Kirsch reveals in the book that he believes White House Deputy Chief of Staff Jim Messina tried to get him fired for criticizing the administration’s proposals. Kirsch compares this approach to the New Deal era, when President Franklin Roosevelt famously told progressives, “I agree with you. Now make me do it.”  Kirsch maintains that during the health care fight, however, insiders felt “there was no outside strategy” for reform.

“If there’s one lesson that I’m hoping will be learned from the campaign HCAN ran, it is that grassroots organizing is essential to overcome the power that big corporations and wealthy elites wield,” Kirsch writes. He argues that the outcome of the battle proved that if a grassroots campaign for change is “smart and strategic and focused, the energy of ordinary people can carry the day.” Ultimately, he says, “the lesson is: You just have to push.”

With an extensive online gallery of video and photographs available on the book’s website and integrated with the e-book version, Fighting for Our Health provides a fully interactive reading experience, creating a living history of the campaign. Kirsch says that collecting personal stories from the 120 interviews he conducted while writing the book brought back the thrill of being an organizer, which is “that you actually get to engage people and give them a sense of their power.”

You can find out where to purchase a copy of the book here and follow the conversation on Twitter and Facebook. Kirsch will also publish a weeklong series of excerpts along with his personal analysis at New Deal 2.0.

Richard Kirsch is available for interviews. For more information, contact Glen Weiner at 212-444-9610 or gweiner@rooseveltinstitute.org.