Lobbying for the Public Health Insurance Option
Photography by Sarah Fox
August 25, 2009

In August 2009 I traveled to Norfolk to witness and record citizen involvement in the political process. I had gotten an email that MoveOn.org was going to gather to demonstrate for the public health care insurance option and to lobby Virginia Senator Mark Warner's office to support it. It is the job of our legislators to hear their constituents' concerns and to represent their best interests in Congress accordingly. Going up against big government and big corporations (e.g. the health care companies that buy our legislators) is a very daunting process, and those everyday citizens who do this are to be celebrated. I saw some things that discouraged me (the treamentt of the group by Sen. Warner's office), as well as some things that encouraged me (some great involvement by champions of fairness). I am documenting this demonstration and lobbying event here as a part of a larger project of mine to bear witness to these turbulent times, where the little guy often can't get a fair shake. I suppose much of my photography betrays my decidely cynical view of government and corporate America.

It bears noting, here, that I departed from my usual policy of being a neutral observer. That's because health care insurance matters very much to me. I'm a victim of health care discrimination and cannot buy insurance for any price. It makes me very angry, and it is hard for me to stand idly by while lawmakers dare to argue that our system works well for most people, and therefore there's not a problem. It's also hard for me not to say anything when I witness such a dismissive attitude from Sen. Warner's office. I went in as a neutral observer, but I could not leave without giving one of Sen. Warner's staff a piece of my mind.

Some of the photographs on this page were taken for the use of the citizen lobbyists, some were taken for artistic purposes, and still others were taken in a documentary spirit. Anyone appearing in any of these photographs may use them, provided they contact me for permission.

I love this shot! I wished I had my 70-200 lens for it!

Here's the group photo I took of the participants. A full sized image can be found here.

This was the scene as Warner's office staff hid from us until we finally flushed them out with our phone calls.

... and then "open sesame! I guess they didn't hear us knocking beforehand. Right.... Anyway, this is where they took four of our group.

I always enjoy watching activists in action. This took place while the first four were in the tiny conference room.

And our first wave returns from action. This reminds me of how it first felt to me, long ago, to have lobbied a Congressional office.

But to me, this is the reality of political action. These people honestly don't give a flying fig, and they don't do anything to help you unless you leverage them into it. They only start listening when you tell them how it will save tax payers and (more importantly) big corporations money or how (most importantly of all) it will help them to get re-elected. It matters not whether they're Democrats or Republicans. They all cater to the corporations that buy them into office.

The "great line" award goes to the gentleman on the right. After asking a long series of questions about where Sen. warner stood on various aspects of the issue, and after hearing nothing but, "I don't know," he retorted, "So what DO you know?"

I thought this gentleman made a very compelling argument that health care is an important civil rights issue of our time. I found his argument particularly compelling as a victim of insurance discrimination myself. So as to grind his point home, I offered myself up as the insurance discrimination poster child of the room. I hope the LA was paying attention. Just because I'm in a minority doesn't mean I don't matter. At least that's how I felt when I helped champion the cause of racial equality as a child. (Are you reading this, Ms. LA?)

Playing on the "getting re-elected" angle, this woman gave the legislative assistant a very nice piece of her mind. You go, girl!

I really do appreciate the folks of MoveOn having me along for the ride and shoving me into the little office to observe and record. As a postscript, I notified all parties pictured here that I had posted the photographs on the Internet. The MoveOn folks expressed a lot of gratitude for my efforts. I appreciate that. I also got a call from Sen. Warner's office in Washington, DC, as I had notified them too. The staffer who called me was very insistent to clarify a few issues, apparently confusing me for someone who had any pull with the MoveOn folks. I kept insisting I was just observing and recording and that she really needed to talk to the MoveOn leaders. However, she insisted she wanted to make some things clear to me. So I humored her during an overly long conversation.

First, she said the staffer in Norfolk was the only person on duty and was busy with a phone call. That was presumably the reason she could not answer the repeated knocking at the door (over a span of perhaps a half hour). I'm not saying I believe that, but just reporting what I was told. I was also told that photography was not permitted in Sen. Warner's office for security reasons, and that had the staffer known I was taking pictures, she would have told me to stop. I laughed and told the lady in DC that there was no possible way anyone in that tiny room couldn't be aware I was taking pictures. My camera is enormous and loud, and as if that weren't enough, I showed the staffer my camera when explaining I am a professional photographer. Additionally, there were no signs or notices telling me I couldn't take pictures. I guess that flushed all credibility on their part down the drain. Finally the lady told me that contrary to my admittedly cynical views on Washington politics, our senators and representatives care very much about the well being of their constituents. I told her that in my experience they do not. That's pretty much where we ended the conversation.

I think the reason the lady was so insistent on talking with me was that she wanted me to portray Sen. Warner a bit more positively. However, I've really become disappointed with both major parties. My photographic essay really calls the situation as I saw it -- as it appeared to me through my viewfinder. I'm sorry if Sen. Warner doesn't like that. But in all fairness to him, I've added these clarifications his office felt it so necessary to provide me (even though I don't believe them).