A progressive prophet: Florida’s Alan Grayson was ahead of his time

Like the “premature antifascists” of the 1930s, former Florida Congressman Alan Grayson (D-Fla.) was right too soon, anticipating by more than a decade the Democratic Party’s current progressive surge.

The fiery, three-term representative was an early backer of the single-payer Medicare for All bill, considered utopian when Rep. John Conyers (D-Mich.) first introduced it in 2003. Grayson, 68, also advocated for free preschool and college as well as a doubling the federal minimum wage to $15 per hour.

So, he told me recently, he is willing to accept some credit for the current progressive insurgency that is now hitting the Democratic mainstream.

“Maybe I was a little ahead of my time,” he says. “I still have enemies out the wazoo because of the bold stands I took in Congress.”

“Grayson was pushing these progressive policy positions,” said University of Central Florida political scientist Aubrey Jewett. “Maybe he planted the seeds for the next generation of progressives.”

Today, Grayson is running — again — in Florida’s Democratic primary for the 7th congressional district, stretching from Orlando to Daytona Beach. Following the National Democratic Party line, his main slogan is “Make Florida Affordable.” 

Although a long shot, Grayson rocketed to fame during the 2009 House debate over then-President Obama’s proposed Affordable Care Act. Republicans claimed they had a better plan, stalling the bill. In response, Grayson thundered from the well of House floor that they had no alternative to Obama’s bill, other than “Don’t get sick — and if you get sick, die quickly!” 

Those few moments standing at an easel transformed Grayson from an obscure, first-term lawmaker into a Democratic activists’ hero.

He kept supporting Medicare for All and raised innovative issues, passing numerous measures through carefully crafted amendments to Republican bills. Then there is Grayson’s slashing personal style. He once called Vice President Cheney a “vampire.” For some party........

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