'Cancer Doesn't Matter': Citizen Lobbyists Unite to Leave Washington's Ugly Politics Behind

'Cancer Doesn't Matter': Citizen Lobbyists Unite to Leave Washington's Ugly Politics Behind

Mary Catherine Johnson is a retired small business owner from near Rochester, New York. She voted for Donald Trump three times.

Lexy Mealing, who used to work in a doctor's office, is from Long Island. She is a Democrat.

But the women share a common bond. Both survived breast cancer.

And when the American Cancer Society's Cancer Action Network organized its annual Citizens' Lobby Day in Washington last month, Johnson and Mealing were among more than 500 volunteers who urged Congress to keep cancer research and support for cancer patients at the top of the nation's health care agenda.

For groups like the cancer organization, the day is something of a ritual.

This year, Democrats and Republicans in Washington faced a budget crisis that led to a shutdown of the federal government. But these volunteers overcame their political differences and found common ground.

“Nobody here talked about whether you were a Democrat or a Republican,” said Mealing, one of 27 volunteers in the New York delegation. “Cancer doesn’t matter.”

Each of the volunteer lobbyists has been affected in some way by the deadly disease, which is expected to kill more than 600,000 people in the United States this year.

Johnson said each of her mother's 10 siblings died of cancer, as did a longtime friend who died at age 57, leaving behind his wife and two young daughters.

Like many of the New York volunteers, Johnson said she was concerned about the current state of politics.

“I think we’re probably as divided as we’ve ever been,” she said. "It scares me. It scares me for my grandchildren."

Katie Martin, a cancer volunteer from outside Buffalo, is also worried. She and her daughter recently drove on the street past political protesters who were yelling at each other.

“My daughter is silent and then starts asking, ‘What is that?’ And I don’t know how to explain it because it doesn’t make sense to me,” she said. “It’s very heartbreaking.”

Mealing said she can barely watch the news these days. "A lot of Americans are very stressed. There's a lot going on."

Americans are indeed divided on many issues – immigration, guns, President Trump. But support for people with cancer and other serious illnesses continues to enjoy broad bipartisan support, polls show.

In a recent poll, seven in 10 voters said it was very important for the federal government to fund medical research. This included majorities of Democrats and Republicans.

“It's rare to see numbers like that these days,” said Jarrett Lewis, a Republican pollster who conducted the survey for patient groups. “But almost everyone in this country knows someone who has had cancer.”

Similarly, a recent KFF poll found that three-quarters of U.S. adults, including most Republicans aligned with the Make America Great Again (MAGA) movement, want Congress to extend subsidies that help Americans purchase health insurance through Affordable Care Act marketplaces.

These subsidies, critical for people with chronic diseases like cancer, are among the biggest sticking points in the current budget crisis in Congress.

As cancer volunteers gathered at a conference hotel in Washington, they focused on their shared agenda: increasing funding for cancer research, maintaining insurance subsidies and improving access to cancer care.

"Maybe we don't agree politically. Maybe we don't agree on social issues," said Martin, the Buffalo-area volunteer. “But we can look beyond these differences because we are here for a reason.”

The state delegations practiced the presentations they would make to their members of Congress. They went through the personal stories they would tell. And they shared tips on how to deal with unruly employees and how to ask for a photo with a lawmaker.

On the morning of their lobby day, they met again in a cavernous ballroom, dressed in matching blue polo shirts and armed with red information folders to drop off at each office they visited.

They received a pep talk from two college basketball coaches. Then they drove across town to Capitol Hill.

The army of volunteers - from every state in the country - attacked 484 of the 535 offices of the Senate and House of Representatives.

Not every visit was an unqualified victory. Many Republican lawmakers oppose expanding insurance subsidies because they are too costly.

But lawmakers from both parties have advocated for increasing research funding and supporting more cancer screenings.

And New Yorkers had a good feeling about the day. “It was incredible,” Mealing said at the end of the day. “You could just feel the feeling: ‘We’re all stronger together’.”

As evening fell, volunteers gathered on the National Mall for a candlelight vigil. It was raining. Bagpipes played.

Around 10,000 tea lights shimmered in small paper bags around a pond near the Lincoln Memorial. Each lamp had a name on it - a life full of cancer.

John Manna, another New Yorker, describes himself as a Reagan Republican whose father died of lung cancer. He reflected on the lessons this day could offer a divided nation.

“Talk to people,” he said. "Get to know each other as people, then you can understand other people's points of view. We hardly have any disagreements, but you know, we don't attack each other. We talk and discuss it."

Manna said he would come back next year.

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