This past week we saw in large font headlines the lack of political power President Donald Trump and the Republicans have when it comes to any health care bill getting through Congress. Many might think that the series of votes and the outcome was the largest loss for the GOP. But it was not.
The greatest defeat is one that has been growing for years. And it comes from grassroots America.
The citizens of this nation do not see healthcare as a separate item on the long list of things which congress needs to work on, but instead view health care a right and one that the government needs a strong hand in fashioning and running. In spite of the rhetoric and bombast Republicans have used over the years against the Affordable Care Act the public likes the program in growing numbers. And they likes the concept of government being involved in crafting a solution.
But there is something else afoot in the land.
Americans who have been engaged on this issue–and Democrats in massive proportions–more than ever before are backing a single-payer, government-run health care system. What started years ago as a fringe idea on the left is being embraced by the party’s mainstream and backing it could become a litmus test for Democratic presidential candidates in 2020.
I get the fact with Democrats in the minority at this juncture in Washington the debate over single payer is symbolic. But with the growing awareness and deep-felt conviction among Americans of various stripes that healthcare is a right means the whole discussion is turning in huge ways that the GOP will have to deal with.
And the GOP knows in its deepest red places this is the truth.
CAFFEINATED POLITICS 