WI-8 Dem Primary Candidate Profile: Dr. Steve Kagen

Last Friday morning, I woke up to an email from an old college classmate, who just happens to be working for Wisconsin 8th CD candidate Steve Kagen. He invited me to join another college classmate, Stacie, in a meeting with with the candidate and his manager, Eric Hogensen, who also managed Matt Flynn's campaign here in the 4th CD last fall.

Let's remind ourselves what's going on here: The current Congressman, Republican Mark Green, is racing to be granted the honor of losing a squeaker to Jim Doyle in November 2006. There are two announced Republican candidates, Terri McCormick and John Gard. The blood between those two is already quite bad, and guaranteed to get worse as the primary heats up and Gard single-mindedly pursues his theocratic crusade and McCormick keeps tacking to the center.

Into that race come four Democrats: Kagan, retired Ashwaubenon police officer Rich Langan, former Brown County Executive Nancy Nusbaum, and businessman Jamie Wall. The Dem side of the primary seems quiet so far, and what I've read of the big players--Langan is not a big player yet--is positive, with all bringing different advantages to the table. (Let me just say here that I am happy to sit down with any of the rest of the candidates at any point.)

My initial impression of Kagen was good, even before I met him. He's doing what good candidates do, reaching out to the Cheddarsphere and bloggers not just for money or buzz, but for advice. So I went into the meeting very upbeat, and, with the assurance that I could write whatever I wanted in response, good or bad, I started sipping my grande double chocolate chip blended creme frappacino in high spirits. (I don't drink coffee; sue me.)

After some small talk ("What is a blog, exactly?"), Kagen got down to the stumping. Kagen's advantage, he says, is that he's a doctor, and he can talk health care like no one else. He's running because no one else is standing up for his patients; he told story after story of patients stretching their health care because they can't afford it. The 8th CD is a very blue-collar district, and as the good union jobs have evaporated, more people find themselves having to make decisions that no American should have to make.

Health care is where it's at, Kagen believes, and he says it will be the winning issue in 2006. He certainly has it over John Gard, here, and can probably beat his primary opponents on the issue, too. His health care plan is five-fold:

1. Open disclosure of all prices. Getting the real price of a procedure is like pulling teeth. Health care providers hide the costs at all costs.
   
2. Unitary Pricing. It is not fair that those with the means to pay--the insured--pay less than those without. At a restaurant, he asks, do you get charged differently based on what you're wearing? Or what time of day it is? A service costs a certain amount, and all of us should be charged the same.
   
3. One national risk pool. Shared risk means lower costs. Period.
   
4. A household deductible of 3% of income. We all have to contribute.
   
5. Governments--local, state, federal--must take care of the needy. This is an obligation, not an option.

While I don't know how on-board I am with all of these, it certainly is more thorough than anything we've heard from the Republican side.

Some additional points of biography: Kagen was instrumental in the civil rights work at UW in the 1960s; Kagen's father helped to revitalize the Democratic party around the same time. Since then, Kagen's influence in the party has been primarily as a donor, though now, as I indicated above, he feels he needs to stand up for his patients.

And some additional impressions: Steve Kagen is not a politician. He likes to talk about himself, sure, as candidates do, but he lacked, from my hour with him, a certain savvy. For example, he railed against Wal*Mart and in favor local businesses, as I sat across from him at Starbucks. There were a couple of points at which I made what I thought were obvious points that surprised him. But that's why he was there, I guess. If he keeps listening, and standing up for health care, then he may have a chance.