Early in his career, my father had taken an unconventional tack in his effort to pass healthcare reform: he held what were called “field hearings,” all over the country. The idea was to re-create the kinds of intense, well-orchestrated, full-day hearings usually held on Capitol Hill and take them to the public, state by state, to build local support. I went along on some of them. They were great fun and often fascinating because of the chance for public testimony. Jim and I decided we would do the same thing for parity.
