19
regrouping. Barkan sees two opportunities.
The firs t is that the Democratic base—
moderates and liberals alike—appears to support
some version of Medicare for All, according to a
survey Be a Hero commissioned in February. Exit
polls in nearl y every primary contest corroborate
the finding: the majority of Democratic voters
support some national government health plan.
Reaching those voters is key, Barkan says, and he
believes he’s well positioned to play unifier. De-
spite his politics, the core of Be a Hero’s base are
moderate, older white women who were drawn
into political activism after 2016, and joined Bar-
kan’s cohort after the Brett Kavanaugh hearings.
He understands where that demographic is coming
from—and believes his story can convince them
that Medicare for All is the right path forward.
The second opportunity is much more pressing:
COVID-19. In the short term, Barkan’s Be a Hero
group is working to get nurses and doctors the sup-
plies they need, while pushing Congress to help
working people weather the economic storm. But
in the longer term, Barkan says this pandemic,in laying bare the need for universal government
health care, may push forward solutions to the
problems that Americans face every day. A crisis,
after all, can be clarifying. According to a Morn-
ing Consult poll, 41% of Americans say the corona-
virus outbreak makes them more likely to support
government- run health care.
One evening in March, after yet another confer-
ence call, Barkan settles in with his family. King
is playing with Willow, and Carl, who’s nearl y 4
now, is home from day care. Before Barkan lost his
voice, he recorded himself singing and playing gui-
tar, and Carl now demands to hear the recordings
at night, especially the Grateful Dead’s “Ripple.”
As the coronavirus outbreak worsens just out-
side their door, Barkan is scared but calm. Since
he already uses a ventilator, contracting COVID-1 9
would be particularly dangerous for him, but he
can’t entirely quarantine his family because he re-
lies on six around-the-clock caregivers. He says his
energy is focused on a bigger challenge: creating a
society for Carl and Willow in which everyone can
access the resources they need. □ALS ‘made
me really
see what
a moral
abomi-
nation our
health care
system is.’
ADY B ARKAN,
health c are
activistROZETTE RAGO—THE NEW YORK TIMES/REDUX
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