The Courage to Tell the Truth

I love pleasant surprises and that's just what I got at the Iowa Farmers Union Annual Convention in Marshalltown this weekend. 

A few months ago my coworker Steph Larsen and I co-hosted community health care reform forums in towns across Iowa.  The forums provided the opportunity for folks to get together and talk about their ideas and concerns on health care reform. 

At one of the forums a man showed up who had a lot of concerns about health care reform.  In fact, he wasn't sure he supported reform at all.  He felt the health care system had worked for him and didn't see the need for reform. 

Chris Peterson, Iowa Farmers Union Board President

I saw the same man at the Iowa Farmers Union convention this weekend and boy, his tune sure had changed.  He gave me an atta-girl pat on the back, shook my hand, thanked me for the Center for Rural Affairs' work on health care and told me how important health care reform was to Iowa Farmers Union.

I was throughly shocked and wondered what had made him change his mind. 

I'll never know for sure what made him realize the importance of health care reform but I am willing to bet Iowa Farmers Union members influenced him a great deal. 

It's people like Chris Peterson, Iowa Farmers Union board president, and Iowa Farmers Union staff Amber Anderson-Mba who have the courage and fire to tell the truth about health care reform and change minds. 

As the health care debate continues, never doubt your ability to change someone's mind with the truth.