Interview with Congressional Candidate Dr. Levenson

Interview+with+Congressional+Candidate+Dr.+Levenson

Kristin Meader and Seth Facey

If you google Dr. Stewart Levenson, one of the first things you will learn about the congressional candidate is that he is a whistleblower. Last July, Levenson decided to come forward and leak information about the bad treatment of veterans and the Manchester VA. According to Levinson the problem was “a few shortcomings to the care that the veterans were receiving … some [weren’t] receiving the care they deserve” and the VA “overspent the budget so they were sending patients out for the cheapest care possible.” After noticing this problem, Levenson failed to receive help from his superiors and politicians, so he took matters into his own hands and went to the Boston Globe. When we asked him what was running through his mind making that decision he told us, “ To me, there was no decision. I had to do what I did.”

Now, Levenson is amidst a campaign for a seat in Congress. He had never planned on running for Congress, he actually had plans to retire in the next few years. However, when he saw that the government was broken he decided that he should do something about it. In his own words, he is running because “Congress needs a doctor”. Levenson thinks that career politicians are the problem. They “hate the other party more than they love their country and are so concerned with making the other guy look bad that they don’t solve problems” As a doctor, Levenson takes his oath to take care of patients very seriously and he intends to keep that oath as a Congressman, with the government as his patient.

Dr. Levenson also spoke on the prospect of a wall across the southern border of the U.S., “the southern wall, I think it’s essential.” He expanded on this statement of this need for a southern wall, “there are tunnels going under our southern border”. Dr. Levenson believes in dealing with securing our borders because “if you don’t have secure borders then you’re going to be dealing with a whole new run of people.” Rather than focusing on the people in America and “whether these people should be allowed to stay”, his focus is towards stopping what he believes is a hole in our secure borders. Another topic which Dr. Levenson responded to is the very prevalent issue of gun control.

Dr. Levenson stated his views on gun control in America, one of the most controversial topics today, and specifically gun control after the tragedy of the Florida shooting. Dr. Levenson said how this was “a horrible tragedy”, but that “passing another gun law is not going to solve anything.” Dr. Levenson stated his belief that the laws are up to par, “the laws are already on the books, and the judgement that is already set up in terms of our policing agencies was there, but it fell short.” This failure of the laws in place, he believes, was because “the FBI didn’t do their job” as the shooter was reported to the FBI. Dr. Levenson reiterated multiple times that it is not new gun laws which will have an impact on preventing these shootings, but enforcing the current laws because “it is the job of the government to enforce the laws it has to prevent these nut jobs from a getting the gun.”

Another important issue to Dr. Levenson is the opioid epidemic. It’s no secret that one of the biggest problems facing New Hampshire is the opioid addiction. In just five years the number of opioid-related deaths increased by a staggering 1,629%.  Levenson thinks that the solution is a two-part solution. First, we should be offering treatment to addicts, “the criminal justice system should not be utilized for users, but for dealers”. The second part would be interdiction to make sure that opioids don’t enter our borders easily, saying “We can’t have the supply being so prevalent that it’s so easy for people to become addicted and stay addicted.”

 

Dr. Levenson ended the interview with some wisdom he has learned over the years. He spoke to the Claw reporters saying to “follow your passion.” Dr. Levenson also told a story of a question he was asked while attempting to receive an endorsement. Dr. Levenson spoke on how he was asked, “What advice would you give to my son?” His response was to “find something you enjoy and work really hard at it because success is always 90% hard work.” Dr. Levenson elaborated, “you can always find somebody who’s smarter than you, but you can always even the playing field by working harder.” Dr. Levenson concluded this short with a connection to his campaign as she stated, “And that’s what I’m hoping to do now.”

 

The SHS Claw would like to thank Dr. Levenson and his team for the wonderful opportunity we had in interviewing him and the time they dedicated to make this happen.