Bernie fights to fix healthcare, Hillary fights to fix her image

2 years ago we were introduced to what we thought was going to be a done deal of an election. Hillary Clinton was the anointed candidate, who had the funding and backing of media, corporate and political interests. On the other hand we had Bernie Sanders — a long time independent with no name recognition, no corporate funding and certainly garnered no love from the Democratic Party, despite caucusing with them most of the time. Hillary had every advantage given to her, including the biggest fundraising machine in Washington.

2 years later, the difference between the two couldn’t be any clearer. Bernie Sanders proves his clout in Washington by introducing a Medicare-for-All healthcare bill endorsed by 16 Democrats, while Hillary Clinton is still desperately fighting for political relevance. From where they were 2 years ago to now, is truly something to behold in this unpredictable political climate.

This is about more than just Bernie and Hillary however. Medicare-for-All represents a bruising ideological battle to be held for the soul of the Democratic Party. While it may be impressive that Bernie has secured 16 senators to co-sponsor his bill, there is still the uphill battle of it being legislated, and it isn’t just Trump standing in the way of progress.

More needs to be done to rein in the power of corporate interests dominating the Democratic Party; namely the pharmaceutical and healthcare industry. Some of the senators that do not endorse the single payer bill, including staunch opponents of it like Diane Feinstein, receive more donations from the healthcare lobby than the senators who do endorse it. The mainstream media also plays a role (or lack thereof) on reporting on it and providing crucial round the clock coverage.

But thanks to Bernie Sanders, the idea of implementing a single payer healthcare system has now become more mainstream among the American population, now all it needs to do is be implemented in the American psyche. When Democratic Representatives Dennis Kucinich and John Conyers introduced their Single Payer bills more than a decade ago, they reached 90 cosponsors in the House. Now, it has 119. When Bernie introduced a similar bill in 2013, he received no co-sponsors. Now, he has 16. Even the polls have moved significantly over the years towards a single payer approach.

Mike Figuredo of the Humanist Report Youtube channel explaining Bernie’s effect on bringing single payer to the spotlight.

And part of this cultural shift did not derive from a corporate/Washington funded think tank, not from the Democratic establishment, and certainly not from Hillary Clinton. It came from the loser of the Democratic primaries.

Compare Bernie’s rise to fame now to Hillary’s fall from grace. The amount of crises (both political and physical) America has had to endure, from hurricanes to healthcare repeal, did not at all warrant her return to the scene. Instead of spending her time resisting Trump like she promised she would do if she lost the election, we know why she has chosen to remain dormant. What else, but another book release.

After what was then the most memorable election year we had last year, it is very natural for the loser to write their memoirs or accounts of what went right and wrong as they retreat to civilian life. What Hillary writes in her book isn’t that, but instead presents itself as a blame game about all the usual suspects: Russia, Comey, Wikileaks, the media (?) and of course, Bernie Sanders. Here is one excerpt from her new book ‘What Happened’

“Bernie routinely portrayed me as a corrupt corporatist who couldn’t be trusted. His clear implication was that because I accepted campaign donations from people on Wall Street — just as President Obama had done — I was “bought and paid for.”

…Because we agreed on so much, Bernie couldn’t make an argument against me in this area on policy, so he had to resort to innuendo and impugning my character… His attacks caused lasting damage, making it harder to unify progressives in the general election and paving the way for Trump’s “Crooked Hillary” campaign. I don’t know if that bothered Bernie or not.”

Me and anyone else could probably write an entire article to explain how Hillary’s attacks and blaming everyone else except her represents everything wrong about her, but that would be too easy. Even certain loyalists are now finally starting to detest her. The point here however isn’t just bringing out a collective groan at her name and shame book tour, it’s to do with the fact that this is someone who had an incredible amount of public support. But the rise and fall of Bernie and Hillary indicates what should really matter in politics: people power. That was one constant that Bernie held through, despite having a lack of support from powerful interest groups.

A very recent Rasmussen Reports poll shows that 61% say it’s time for Clinton to retire, which was up by 6% just after she lost the election in November. Some polling data included 44% saying her weakness led to her defeat, 58% believes Democrats need a new leader and 63% don’t believe her public presence is good for the party. Her polling even ranks below Donald Trump’s, which is at a record low for a president. Contrast that to Bernie Sanders, who is now America’s most popular politician.

It wasn’t Bernie’s so called ‘idealism’ or ‘purism’ that set the party on the path to destruction, but Clinton’s focus tested, soulless campaign that was filled with nothing but below the belt attacks and empty platitudes. While Bernie is fighting tooth and nail to push Medicare-for-All on the public agenda, lets remind ourselves of what Hillary had to say about single payer healthcare:

I have no grievance for Hillary writing a book about the election; as long as she took responsibility for her loss. While she claims she does, in her own twisted sense of reality, she does nothing of the sort. Like many, we are becoming sick and tired of hearing about her, and I truly hope this article marks the end of it, and hopefully marks the death of her political career. Just as Jeremy Corbyn finally killed off Blairism, we urgently need to do the same with Clintonism.

Neo-Liberalism, Centrism, however you call it, is a tougher breed to eradicate without a progressive leader and an active, grassroots base willing to fight for a new party. Clinton is now polling unfavorably nationwide, people recoiling in utterance of the name, and will probably retreat to the political wilderness given her record of ‘resistance’. Sanders, despite not being the leader, gives America something to rally behind, and that is the least anyone can ask for at this point. Him fighting for the toughest piece of legislation to pass in Washington, versus Hillary’s pandering, self-serving book tour tells you all you need to know about these two.

#Democrats #BernieSanders