Congressional Candidate Getting Early Jump On 2018

Dr. Christopher Peters (R). 2nd Congressional District Candidate.

Oskaloosa, Iowa – The VW bus with a sunset screen in the back side windows was an attention getter as the driver searched for a parking spot on the square in Oskaloosa.

Christopher Peters (R) is a surgeon from the Coralville area that ran against Congressman Dave Loebsack for the 2nd Congressional District in 2016. His bid to topple the 5 term congressman came up short.

Peters campaign was 7 months in 2016. “That was never really enough time to gather the resources and the ground game. All the stuff you need to do to run an effective campaign.”

In his bid for 2018, Peters is starting nearly 16 months in advance with a tour around the district. “That gives enough time to get those resources, get the name ID out there,” added Peters, who hopes to better develop the “ground game.”

The time away from the campaign trail was short lived, as Peters hopes to capitalize on the name recognition gained during his last run for office. He thinks this time around, things will be different.

“I think, generally, there is a mood for change,” says Peters.

Peters would like to fix the dysfunction in D.C., and he speaks about the American Anti-corruption Act.

The Act is a piece of legislation designed to limit the influence of money in American politics by overhauling lobbying, transparency, and campaign finance laws. The act has yet to be passed by Congress, after being introduced in 2011.

“There are 12 specific proposals in the Act. I’m not sure that I buy off on all 12, but I think it’s a great starting point for discussion,” said Peters.

“I don’t see a lot of common sense solutions coming out of D.C.” says Peters. “I think a lot of the reason is probably this dysfunction, this inertia. The fact that outside interest groups attract more attention from our elected representatives than does the interest of the American people.”

We asked Peters how one person makes the change to the culture in Washington D.C.

“That’s the thing I can imagine frustrating me the most. I think there are probably a lot of people who want to go to D.C., go to D.C. with the intention of being a reformer and then are stymied, frustrated. Then you have a choice of just saying, ‘I can’t do it, I’m leaving’ or you get mired into the system.”

“I can imagine that being a very frustrating thing,” added Peters. “I can tell you for me, if that were the case I’d be very happy to just leave and go back to my surgical practice. It’s not going to change unless people try.”

“Is it going to be easy? I don’t pretend at all that it’s going to be easy,” says Peters who, if elected, would like to recruit candidates with similar reform attitudes.

“It’s not something that’s going to be done by a freshman legislator beginning in January 2019, when I hopefully join the House,” said Peters.

“Civility in our public discourse… especially on social media” is something Peters would like to talk about. “We tolerate behavior in adults that we wouldn’t tolerate in our children.”

“That’s not something you can legislate, that’s something you can exemplify,” added Peters. “We can lead by example.”

With the repeal and replace discussion continuing in Washington D.C., Peters puts his medical training and experience to use while discussing the issue. Peters says he would bring “A lot” to the table for discussion on the subject.

Health care and sub-prime mortgage collapse, that lead to the Great Recession, are two of the subjects Peters says drew him to politics. “I think it’s important to realize our healthcare system was deeply dysfunctional prior to the Affordable Care Act.”

When it comes to the repeal-replace work going on currently in Congress, Peters says, “What I really want to do is reach beyond that, and actually improve our system.”

“The main, underlying problem with our healthcare system is that we pay too much for services. Any individual per-item care, whether it’s a doctor visit, a hospital stay or a pharmaceutical, we spend more as Americans than any other country in the world.”

“If we use a health care coverage, a health care plan, to cover those services, of course that health care plan’s going to be more expensive.”

Peters went on to say that current legislative work is looking at the “coverage aspect, but not the underlying dynamic. Which, the driving force is–we spend too much.”

Peters says that he believes in allowing “market forces to work where they can, as opposed to a centralized government Medicare for all Bernie Sanders approach. But I share the same goals as somebody who might advocate for a Medicare for all plan.”

“I want to see healthcare be less expensive. I want to see it be better in some areas where it does fall short,” says Peters. “I want to see all Americans have coverage.”

Mental health care and drug addiction, including the opioid epidemic that is ravaging the United States, are two issues that Peters believes the federal government won’t handle well. “I think it’s something that’s going to be best done at the state and local level.”

“We need to start dealing with this issue. We can’t just incarcerate people who are mentally ill or addicted. They’re not getting treatment there,” says Peters. “They are subjected to more problems in a jail or a prison than they would be by getting care.”

Veterans health care is another issue Peters says he’s taking interest in. “As a veteran myself, and somebody who trained in a number of veterans hospitals, it’s something that very much concerns me.”

Peters says he’s been approached by veterans who are concerned about their ability to get routine care in their communities, rather than having to make a long drive to Iowa City for care.

”This is a promise we made to veterans,” says Peters. “I think we need to do a better job of that than we are.”

Peters also believes there needs to be a different approach to foreign relations and the war on terror. “It’s not a war that is winnable, it’s one that can be managed to a degree.” Peters says we need to “focus on waging peace.”

You can learn more about Christopher Peters by visiting his website at https://drpetersforiowa.com/

Posted by on Jul 27 2017. Filed under Local News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. Both comments and pings are currently closed.

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