townhall
Matt Vespa |Posted: Sep 18, 2017 1:16 PM
[excerpt]
https://townhall.com/tipsheet/mattvespa/2017/09/18/splintered-singlepayer-litmus-test-has-cut-democrats-right-down-the-middle-n2381168The Democratic Party establishment may be skeptical of it it, but there is enthusiasm and energy behind Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) single-payer initiative. So far, it has 15 co-sponsors. It’s not that they’re against the aims of the bill, alternatively called Medicare-for-all, it’s the price tag, the optics, and the strategy in selling it.
To the more centrist wing, it’s causing concern that progressive cohorts want to use this as a litmus test for elections, in which the Democratic Party’s already limited pool of talented up starters could further shrink if this is the death knell for a potential candidacy for any office.
Like it or not, the Democratic Party is not a national one. It’s been decimated during and after the Obama era, with 1,000 fewer Democrats in office than there were in 2008-09. The GOP control Congress, the White House, 69/99 state legislatures, and two-thirds of the governorships. The Republicans are at the apex of their power.
