GREENFIELD — Local supporters for Democratic presidential candidate Tulsi Gabbard stood outside the Green Fields Market Thursday, speaking with passersby and discussing Gabbard’s stance on military spending, diplomacy, the environment and health care.
“We believe she is a unifying candidate,” said Pamela Goodwin, a Greenfield resident and local organizer of the 2020 Gabbard campaign.
Goodwin said the group has had a busy week scheduled ahead of Tuesday’s primary election. She said she was drawn to Gabbard’s campaign because she wanted to support a candidate who “has been reaching across the aisle since she’s been in Congress.”
Billy Park, of Northampton, said he likes Gabbard’s “aloha spirit” and willingness to speak to people with different opinions.
“She stands up for what she believes is right, even if the whole room is sitting down,” Park said. “She goes on Fox and talks with the people who disagree. She tries to understand perspectives other than her own.”
Another supporter, Paul Scammon, of Greenfield, said people passing by or stopping to chat Thursday were receptive, especially those who said they were still undecided. Scammon said the president’s biggest responsibility is fulfilling the role of “commander-in-chief,” and as a non-combat veteran, he was drawn to Gabbard in part because of her stance on war, diplomacy and international trade, as well as her experience in the military.
Gabbard is the first female combat veteran to run for president, and the first female combat veteran elected to Congress, along with Tammy Duckworth. She has served for seven years on the Foreign Affairs, Armed Services and Homeland Security committees. Gabbard enlisted in the Army National Guard after the 9/11 terrorist attack, and served as a soldier for over 16 years, being deployed twice in the Middle East.
“Short-sighted, self-serving leaders in the grip of the military industrial complex have brought us into a new Cold War and nuclear arms race with Russia and China,” Gabbard states on her campaign website. “As president, I will end these counterproductive and wasteful regime change wars, work to end this new Cold War and nuclear arms race, and take the trillions of dollars that we’ve been spending and invest those resources in serving the needs of the American people — health care, education, rebuilding our crumbling infrastructure, protecting our environment.”
Scammon said he “waited 35 years” for a candidate that spoke to him, noting his appreciation of Gabbard’s stance on how regime change wars have drained the country financially and sacrificed the lives of soldiers. Scammon said he hasn’t voted for a non-independent candidate since 1984.
Joe Lupa, of Ludlow, pointed to Gabbard’s support for and implementation of the Off Fossil Fuels for a Better Future Act of 2017. Lupa said while Gabbard has said she does not support the Green New Deal, it is because the deal does not eliminate nuclear power. Gabbard instead aims to create a “renewable energy economy.” She wants to divert annual subsidies for oil companies and move it toward development of clean energies, Lupa said.
According to her website, Gabbard plans to redirect money that is spent subsidizing the fossil fuel industry to instead invest in wind, solar and geothermal.
Among the many other stances Gabbard has taken, Scammon and Lupa both agreed with her view on health care for all and affordable access to medication or treatment. They said negotiations around health care need to be made without “big pharma” at the table.
“No one should be forced to choose between putting food on the table and paying for life-saving medication,” Gabbard states on her website.
Goodwin said a big piece of the campaign is continuing to call out corruption and inform the public about, not just Gabbard, but the issues. By educating citizens and getting them invested, it will get them out to vote Tuesday — and in November. Goodwin said she met Gabbard at a previous event, and asked her what to say to apathetic voters. She replied, “If they want change, I am that change.”
Zack DeLuca can be reached at zdeluca@recorder.com or 413-930-4579.