The day after the primary, progressives are licking their wounds. One recurring word rolls again and again off the tongues of Berwick supporters: they were “struck” by him.
From support of single-payer healthcare systems to ardent objection to casino and pipeline projects, Donald Berwick plastered himself with the label “liberal dem” early in his campaign for governor of Massachusetts. For many of the Valley’s voters, that meant he “had them at hello,” but his devoted supporters reveal a deeper story.
With vanquished, tired expressions, Berwick supporters described him the day after the primary as genuine, compassionate, a real doer. Progressive Democrats speak of him with the same glimmer they had in their eyes when Deval Patrick and Elizabeth Warren arrived. As a political outsider, he comes across as forthright and logical.
“I think Don’s right to say Martha Coakley and Steve Grossman are ‘politics as usual,’” one of Berwick’s Amherst delegates, John Hornik, said. “I just think Don was really and is really unique. It’s really unique to have someone with his talent and vision want to do a job like that.” His supporters praise him for having taken bold stances on healthcare reform and casinos, yet simultaneously concede that audacity may have cost him the primary.
“He studies issues and comes to a conclusion,” said Alice Swift, another Amherst delegate. “He has values and sticks to his values. He’s not a politician.”
Having both worked in the healthcare field when Berwick co-founded the Institue for Healthcare Improvement, Hornik and Nancy Mihevc, a team leader for the Berwick campaign in Northampton, have followed Berwick for more than 20 years.
Despite having won nearly all of Hampshire and Franklin Counties and a significant portion of the western part of the state, Berwick was only able to garner a better-than-expected 21 percent of the total vote, trailing Martha Coakley at 42 percent and Steven Grossman at 37 percent. Since voters hit the polls just as the political newcomer celebrated his 68th birthday, expectations are low that he will again run for state office.
Fueled with passion and hope that their underdog had a chance of winning if more residents knew about him, Berwick supporters spent the summer stirring up interest. “I don’t feel that somebody has to be a winner for me to support them,” said Swift. “Obviously, Don Berwick was a long shot. But I want to know that they have a chance to win.”
The nagging question: where will all that passion go now? What’s next for Berwick’s devoted constituency? The answers are much less enthusiastic.
“I’ll support Coakley,” said Joel Spiro, who worked on Berwick’s Northampton campaign. “It’s a simple thing; it’s not hard. It’s not a question of being madly in love with a candidate. It won’t be like, ‘wow, we have the greatest candidate in the world,’ but she’s good enough.”
Though Berwick supporters remain confident in their party, it is difficult to tell whether Coakley is strong enough to beat out Republican candidate Charlie Baker. Criticized for being vague, weak, and lacking heart, Coakley seems to have only begrudgingly won the vote of Western Mass. Democrats.
“I think she needs to get out to the western part of the state more,” said Mihevc. “We didn’t see her much here during the primary.”
The numbers say that most of Berwick’s supporters were geographically clustered in the west.In Hampshire County, Berwick’s 49 percent beat out Coakley’s 28 percent, with Grossman trailing closely at 23 percent. Franklin county also favored Berwick at 42 percent to Coakley’s 36 percent and Grossman’s 22 percent. In Berkshire County, Coakley won 45 percent, while Berwick narrowly beat Grossman 28 to 27 percent. The Hampden County numbers were more reflective of state totals with Coakley at 44 percent, Grossman at 38 percent and Berwick at 19 percent.
Mihevc said she will likely join the grassroots anti-casino campaign, but, having worked so hard on the Berwick campaign, needs to refocus her energies on her business and her family and so will not be working for Coakley. Mihevc has worked on about 15 campaigns, and despite the loss, has never seen such fervor to carry on a candidate’s philosophies beyond the candidacy. “The ideals were so strongly held by folks that they weren’t going to quit with the campaign—they really wanted to figure out what’s next,” she said. “We’re all just only asking at this point.”
Swift said she will more actively participate in ballot-question groups than on Coakley’s campaign. Swift has spent 25 years as an activist for single-payer healthcare systems—she plans to continue that work, and hopes that Berwick will play more of a leadership role in those efforts. She is also ardently anti-casino and said she will join the anti-casino grassroots campaign.
Swift, who worked with a core group of volunteers through the Elizabeth Warren, Ed Markey and Berkwick campaigns, is unsure if the same crowd will rally around Coakley. Having only rarely visited the area thus far, Coakley hasn’t captured the grassroots energy sparked by Elizabeth Warren a few years ago.
“I’ll support Coakley,” Swift said. “I won’t do it in as wholehearted a way as I was with Don Berwick. Don Berwick was special.”•
