Becoming the national leader in experiential ... - Keuka College

C LASS N OTES
IN OR OUTSIDE OF THE BELTWAY,
’72 GRAD WILL WORK FOR CHANGE
Term limits weren’t a
consideration when our
founding fathers laid the
groundwork for the legislative
branch of the federal government.
However, they didn’t envision
the career politician concept either.
What they had in mind was
someone such as Melissa Moore
Brown ’72, a former nurse, physician,
wife, and mother of three.
“I didn’t run for office to
become a politician,” said Brown,
who ran for Pennsylvania’s 13th
District seat in the House of
Representatives last November.
Rather, Brown threw her hat
into the ring because of her passion
for one of the most serious issues
facing this country: health care.
“We’ve had some health problems
in my family and while we are
fortunate to have good coverage
now, I am not at all comfortable with
what might happen in the years to
come,” said Brown, a member of the
College Board of Trustees.
Brown, who lost a Republican
primary for the 13th District seat in
1998, won the primary four years
later, earning the right to challenge
Democrat incumbent James Hoeffel.
“I got into the race because I
didn’t think he was interested in
health care reform,” said Brown, an
ophthalmologist in Flourtown, Pa.,
and director of the Center for Value
Based Medicine.
Knocking off incumbents in the
House of Representatives is harder
than beating Tiger Woods at Augusta,
and when the Brown-Hoeffel race
kicked off, the challenger was 20
points behind in the polls.What
made Brown’s task even more daunt-
ing was the fact that the 13th
District had been re-drawn to
include Northeast Philadelphia, a
heavily Democratic region, as well as
suburban Montgomery.
Nonetheless, Brown whittled in
to Hoeffel’s lead and as the race drew
tighter, the campaign took on, as one
local paper reported,“a hard edge.”
“I’m a caretaker.
I take care of people,
but politics is nothing
like that. It’s a
nasty business,” said
Brown.“The majority
of the most qualified
people choose
not to run because it
is so nasty. I do
believe it’s a game
you have to play.”
And, it’s a
tougher game for women.
“Let’s face it, politics is still a
guy’s world,” said Brown.“You have
to bash your way in.”
A week before the election,
Brown pulled slightly ahead of
Hoeffel in the polls. In the end, the
incumbent prevailed by three percentage
points, thanks in part to the
coattails of Ed Rendell, the successful
Democrat candidate for governor in
Pennsylvania.
The genesis of Brown’s interest
in politics can be traced to her days
at Keuka.
“I was a nursing major and while
I enjoyed my nursing courses, I really
liked my government courses,” said
Brown, who also completed a Field
Period in the most political city in
the world:Washington, D.C.
After receiving a bachelor’s
degree in nursing from Keuka,
Brown earned a master’s degree in
KEUKA MAGAZINE 20 WINTER 2003
nursing from Emory University and
then received a Doctor of Medicine
degree from Thomas Jefferson
University in Philadelphia. Five years
ago, she earned a M.B.A. from St.
Joseph’s University.
A diverse education has led to a
diverse career: nurse, physician,
teacher, business owner, and, save for
a few percentage points,
member of the U.S.
House of
Representatives.Would
she consider a third run
at Congress?
“I don’t know,” she
said.“I’m not interested
in grasping for something
that is not there.
I’d have to see a scenario
where I could win.”
But if she does
decide to run, expect her to go allout.
“Is it worth it? Yes, I believe it
is,” said Brown of the 18-hour days
on the campaign trail and the attack
ads.“You have to realize that it’s the
politicians—the policymakers—who
run our lives; they affect our lives.”
And even though she isn’t in
Washington, she continues to
advance her cause—quality, affordable
health care—through the Center
for Value Based Medicine, a think
tank which she and husband Gary,
also a physician, founded.
“Forty million people in this
country are uninsured,” said Brown.
“We are No. 1 in the world in the
amount of money we spend on
health care but we are No. 72 in the
kind of health care we provide.”
Brown aims to change all that.
No matter where her soapbox is
stationed.