by Jonathan Krall
On March 12, 2024, after nearly two years of steady effort by a coalition of Alexandrians, the Alexandria City Council passed a resolution in support of Medicare For All, adding to the national map of Medicare For All support. The coalition consisted of Grassroots Alexandria, the Northern Virginia Branch of the Democratic Socialists of America, Our Revolution Northern Virginia, and Tenants and Workers United. This is how we did it.
We were doing so well. We had the votes lined up. Then…
This is part 4 of a 4-part story. Part 1. Part 2. Part 3.
The process, part 4: we become City Council whisperers
We met with one member in July, emailed back and forth through the summer and fall, and received a draft resolution from him in November. Then nothing.
We looked for opportunities to informally meet City Council members to nudge things along. I myself spoke with some members at December holiday parties, but to little avail. In retrospect, it was easy for them to ignore me because, unlike most volunteers, I’ve been doing this sort of thing for years. They are used to ignoring me. We needed to change the dynamic. Because City Council members like talking to Alexandrians who are less familiar voices, we put more effort into planning these informal conversations and worked in pairs or in threes.
In January 2024, campaign season opened. All four of our likely “yes” votes were running again. Thinking that they might be at a farmers’ markets looking for ballot-qualification petition signatures, we visited the Del Ray Farmers’ Market to gather our own (Medicare For All) petition signatures, even though we didn’t really need them (we got some anyway). With our councilmembers nowhere to be seen, that was a total fail. But better opportunities were coming soon.
Beginning in late January 2024, campaign “kickoffs” came thick and fast. These are great opportunities to meet candidates and network with their supporters. We arrived at each with members of both Grassroots Alexandria and NoVA DSA. At one kickoff, we were told the draft resolution would be sent from councilmember A to councilmember B. At the next kickoff, we learned that councilmember A hadn’t acted, so we dug up the November draft resolution and sent it to councilmember B ourselves, CCing councilmember A.
Four kickoffs later, Councilmember Sarah Bagley sent us a final draft. Soon after, she promised to introduce it on March 12. At the March 12 legislative meeting, the resolution wasn’t on the agenda, but Ms. Bagley reassured us that it would be introduced during oral reports. This process was new to us.
At 6:30pm, seven Alexandrians representing all four groups in our coalition were present to take a celebratory photo in front of city hall. However and unfortunately, oral reports from councilmembers are at the end of the meeting. As the meeting dragged on, we texted each other about zoning minutia and learned about sketchy land-speculation schemes. Happily, our numbers dwindled only slightly. At 10:30pm, five of us were present to see the resolution pass, 6-0.
Coalition politics
We are telling our story to show how old-fashioned coalition politics works, even if it is messy. By repeatedly demonstrating our own persistence, by repeatedly demonstrating the very real public support for our cause, by repeatedly demonstrating our willingness to approach this public process with respect, faith, and determination, by showing that the only way to get us to shut up was to work with us, we convinced decision-makers to work with us.
As noted in Part 3, this style of coalition politics can be restrictive. Working locally means we are stuck in the same local boat with each other. We don’t have the luxury of “burning bridges.”
On the plus side, there is little need for secrecy. We can work in public. The techniques of coalition politics are very predictable. Power-mapping, seeking out and engaging people who can influence decision-makers, is a well-known technique. The techniques of story-telling are also well known. We can work as visibly as possible, telling our story as we go, hoping that our actions will attract people to our cause.
As we noted at the beginning of our story, the Alexandria Medicare For All resolution contributes to Public Citizen’s national map of Medicare For All community support, building their coalition. When we met with a Public Citizen representative to talk about this result, she noted that their aim was not just to demonstrate public support for healthcare, but to build support from political leaders from across the United States. With so many politicians promising to vote for Medicare For All, perhaps, someday, some of them will deliver.