More like Jimmy BORE
(argue in the comments, but like, the WWE equivalent of arguing)
But because everybody was focussed on the “orange Mussolini in the white house”, nobody was really paying attention to those down-ballot races.
On top of that, polls consistently showed that during the presidential primary, democratic voters were most concerned with “electability”. Having a floor vote on medicare for all during a pandemic when millions lost their employer-based health insurance will bring the focus back to the issues, and on the issues, the people are with the left.
In a more general way: the political arena during the last couple of months, was centered around the fight between the radical right and the centre. If we force a vote on medicare for all, we make it a fight between the left and the rest. That would be a fight on our terms, which is exactly where you’d want to be in the political arena: you want to set the terms of the debate.
Will it? Who is going to report on it outside of the left media bubble…
It will be reported, because the fact that Pelosi won’t cruise to her re-nomination is huge news in itself because the speaker of the house is an important position. And there’s also the fact that Pelosi is hated by a large majority of the population, which makes sure that you’ll get a lot of outrage clicks if you report on this.
Imagine if Pelosi keeps on refusing to hold the vote, and the house needs let’s say 20 rounds of voting, and there’s still no new speaker. That’s effectively blocking the normal functioning of the governement, and that’s extremely newsworthy, and impossible to ignore for outlets.
We all saw how the media covers us durring bernies campaign right?
Yeah, but that’s always going to be the case. SO should we stop doing anything? No, offcourse not.
We are in a better position here, because it’s about just one issue: medicare for all. You can put Bernie aside as “crazy Bernie” if you manage to not speek about the issues, but if Pelosi would be blocked from cruising to her reëlection as speaker, it’s only about one issue, which thus has to be reported and which will remain popular (especially now), despite all the propaganda.
In a more general way: the political arena during the last couple of months, was centered around the fight between the radical right and the centre. If we force a vote on medicare for all, we make it a fight between the left and the rest. That would be a fight on our terms, which is exactly where you’d want to be in the political arena: you want to set the terms of the debate.
How are we sure it’s going to end up as a big fight? If the vote actually happens couldn’t it just look like the co-sponsor list? The best case I see if it gets more votes than the co-sponsor list but does not pass the House as the Dems have a slim majority. You still don’t know if those votes are sincere or those are just votes to avoid a primary challenger when they know M4A isn’t actually passing
How are we sure it’s going to end up as a big fight?
Imagine the following situation: when Pelosi caves and allows a vote on M4A, AOC (and the other DSA-elected officials and progressives) immediatly announce they’ll endorse a primary challenger against every dem who votes against it. Then, they ask everyone to upload testimonials about why they need M4A, and contact their representatives about their need.
That’s just a scenario I came up with, you can imagine other ones. The point is, if they want to let it escalate in to a fight, it can excalate in to a fight. But the starting point is the will to do it.
Still, that’s not a guarantee of succes, but you’ll never have that. But given the fact that (a) they have leverage because of the way the election of speaker of the house works and (b) the fact that millions of people lost their health insurance during a pandemic, I don’t think there will be a more favorable balance of power for the left on the issue of medicare in the coming decade or so.
AOC (and the other DSA-elected officials and progressives) immediatly announce they’ll endorse a primary challenger against every dem who votes against it
This is already kind of the situation we live in. A lot of Democrats faced primary challengers this year, and with the presidential race out of the way I expect a lot more in 2022.
Best case I see for the M4A vote is all the cosponsors plus a few more vote yes. The Dems have a slim House majority, meaning a handful of conservative Democrats can kill the bill. The issue is you don’t know who actually supports M4A. Kamala Harris cosponsored M4A, if she was in the House she would vote for it and still change her position when it is time to run for President.
