You do not know what you
do not know. This common phrase speaks to people's blind spots when
it comes to their perspectives on various types of issues and ideas,
including politics. What is considered not in the realm of
possibility may simply be a reflection of societal biases forced upon
people by various power structures in which society is based upon.
Copernicus learned this the hard way as he challenged the church's
orthodox view that the sun revolves around the earth. The same kind of analogy can be
made for the political viability of a universal healthcare policy,
such as Medicare for All.
“Never, ever”
In the 2016 Democratic
presidential primaries most Democratic Party insiders believed that
having some type of universal healthcare proposal, such as Medicare
for All, was not a political possibility because they believed that
the idea was too far to the left on the political spectrum to be
accepted by the American mainstream. The party ultimately nominated
as its presidential nominee Hillary Clinton, a candidate who said
that Medicare for All would “never,
ever” happen, over Bernie Sanders, a fiercely vocal proponent
of an aggressive move leftward towards some type of a universal
healthcare system. This turned out to be a huge mistake, resulting in
Donald Trump's ascendancy to the Oval Office.
A new political
paradigm
Now
with Sanders consistently polling as the nation's most popular
politician, while Clinton continually remaining one of the least
popular, there is little doubt that Sanders would have fared much
better against Trump and probably would have won the presidency if
the Democratic Party had nominated him. One of the main reasons for
this is Sanders's consistent support for Medicare for All, which a
clear majority
of Americans support. It is obvious that Democrats running in the
2018 midterm elections need to fully support universal healthcare
which is already a part of the official
party platform. Essentially, Democrats need to start actually
being Democrats if they really want to win elections. This is a new
political paradigm and a ripe opportunity if Democrats do not allow
their past political biases to blind them.
Universal Healthcare
vs. Paul Ryan
This
new paradigm is clearly illustrated in the current movement to unseat
Republican Speaker of the House, Congressman Paul Ryan in Wisconsin.
It is notable that the top Democratic primary contenders for the
seat, Randy Bryce
and Cathy Myers,
both have universal healthcare in their platforms. This is remarkable
because there are currently no Democrats running in the primary
election for the party's nomination that does not support Medicare
for All, while just during the previous election cycle the Democratic
Party's presidential nominee considered universal healthcare a
political impossibility.
This
presents, once again, the opportunity for Democrats to sharply draw a
contrast between themselves and Ryan, Trump and the GOP's recent
effort to strip tens of millions of Americans of healthcare via the
highly
unpopular Obamacare repeal bill. Progressives, liberals and
Democratic voters need to strongly support primary candidates who
support Medicare for All, while pushing incumbents to adopt the
policy as part of their agendas, if the party is serious about their
“blue wave” in the 2018 midterm elections.
