Are Democratic Candidates Coming to Their Senses?

Well, maybe (except for Bernie). Chelsea Janes and Michael Scherer report in the Post:

"The idea of Medicare-for-all — a unified government health program that would take over the basic function of private insurance — became a liberal litmus test at the outset of the presidential campaign, distinguishing Democratic contenders who cast themselves as bold visionaries from more moderate pragmatists.

But in recent months, amid polling that shows concern among voters about ending private insurance, several of the Democratic hopefuls have shifted their positions or their tone, moderating full-throated endorsement of Medicare-for-all and adopting ideas for allowing private insurance in some form.....

This unmistakable, if sometimes subtle, shift in tone stems in part from Democrats’ fear of giving away a newfound advantage over Republicans on health care."

Sensible! This gets the coveted Common Sense Democrat seal of approval. It's not like the data on this has exactly been a state secret, as detailed in the article.

"A Washington Post-ABC News poll in July found that 52 percent of Americans overall, and 77 percent of Democrats, prefer a universal health program to the current system. But support dropped to 43 percent and 66 percent, respectively, when respondents were told that it would mean eliminating private insurance.

Other surveys have found less support. About 8 in 10 Democrats and Democratic-leaning independents in a Pew poll in July said the federal government has a responsibility to ensure health coverage, but less than half said it should be through a single government plan.

And in a July poll of Iowa voters by CBS News/YouGov, two-thirds of Democrats said they preferred a government health program that competed with private insurance, compared with 34 percent who favored one that replaced private insurance entirely."

I encourage the candidates to keep on paying attention to the actually-existing views of the actually-existing American people. It works wonders.

About this website

WASHINGTONPOST.COM

Democrats back off once-fervent embrace of Medicare-for-all

Kamala Harris’s switch on health care highlights a broader move by Democrats to soften their initial enthusiasm for a sweeping government health plan.