ST. PETERSBURG, FL-- At Atwater's Cafe in St. Petersburg, Mike Atwater offers up an array of southern cooking. But, the third generation small business owner doesn't offer his four employees health insurance.
"Trying to maintain, stay open, and stay in business unfortunately I can't afford to offer it at this time," Atwater says. And he says the economy has put insurance premiums out of reach, even for him. "$380 a week for me being over 40 and I don’t smoke or drink but I'm definitely fight high blood pressure."
According to a coalition of minority activist groups, Mike Atwater is exactly who they're trying to reach in a new ad.
The commercial is narrated by a senior African-American man who says "I'm not gonna let politicians and special interest groups throw 46 million of us under the bus."
46 million is a common estimate of uninsured people in the U.S. today. A coalition of minority groups including the national NAACP, the National Council of la Raza, and the Campaign for Community Change is paying for the air-time in four states Florida, Arkansas, Louisiana and Arkansas, urging minority voters to tell their representatives to vote for health care reform.
Ray Tampa is the president of the St. Petersburg chapter of the NAACP.
"There are too many people that don’t have access and the ones that have access they may not have the funds to pay for that access," Tampa says.
"They're clearly going to show this ad in districts where there are sizable minority populations," says University of South Florida political professor, Dr. Susan MacManus. But, she says these ads aren't just trying to send a message to voters.
"They're particularly aiming these messages in places where Congress members are wavering about voting for a reform plan." In particular she says in districts where congress members are up for re-election.
But, Atwater says, politics and commercials aside, health care isn't a part of his reality today.
"Definitely right now it's impossible," he says.
