The highlight of the Feb 19 debate was the stand-off between Sanders and Bloomberg, Bloomberg getting so frustrated by Sanders that he practically called Sanders a communist: "They had socialism in Russia only they called it communism." As Sanders pointed out, we have socialism now but it is socialism for the rich. And, of course, we have public schools and public libraries, socialism of a sort. I think one of the reasons Sanders is doing so well is that he sticks by his positions both practically and theoretically, saying that health care is a right, while everyone else waffles on the issue, saying that millions are happy with their health insurance and we shouldn't take it away, though even if they are happy (which I doubt) they can't change jobs because they and their family need the health insurance. Sanders continues to point out that there are thousands of bankruptcies every year due to health care costs even though those who go bankrupt have health insurance. It is an unacceptable conflict of interest that the more insurance companies turn down routine claims the more they make in profits.
I would support any of the candidates on the stage except for Bloomberg, especially considering his contributions to the increasingly higher cost of living in New York City and his attitudes toward women and minorities. All the candidates have positive and negative reasons why they can or can't beat Trump: Biden stumbles, Klobuchar and Warren have to overcome misogyny (see Caroline Fraser's article in the March 12 issue of The New York Review of Books), Pete Buttigieg is relatively young and inexperienced, Sanders is a socialist, and so on. I do think much has changed since McGovern ran against Nixon in 1972, but has it changed enough to replace a con man with a person of integrity.
No comments:
Post a Comment