Bye, bye Bernie

The Bernie Sanders revolution is winding down.

After three weeks’ of thumping in Democratic primary elections, Sanders is poised to drop out of the race. The Vermont senator would have to win 70% of the vote in remaining elections to overtake former Vice President Joe Biden—and he’s been winning far less than 30%. With the coronavirus outbreak metastasizing, dropping out has become an ethical imperative that will turn upcoming Democratic primaries into formalities, allowing more people to stay home and reduce the risk of spreading the virus.

So barring a catastrophe, Joe Biden will be the Democratic nominee running against President Trump in the general election that essentially begins now. Yet Sanders has had an indelible impact on the Democratic Party that could resonate for years. He pushed radical ideas like “Medicare for All” and the Green New Deal which may never get enacted in the form Sanders prefers but have changed the way Democrats and many voters in general think about what the government should and can do.

Biden now leans more to the left than he did as a senator, and as President Obama’s vice president. After the Obama administration got the Affordable Care Act (ACA) passed in 2010, it basically pulled back from any further reforms to the way Americans get health care. While debating the ACA, Democrats tried to pass a “public option” plan similar to Medicare for people who couldn’t find affordable coverage in the private market. But they didn’t have the votes, even when Democrats controlled both houses of Congress. That’s part of the reason the ACA provides subsidies for lower-income Americans to buy insurance in the private market but does not provide new ways to enroll in a government plan.

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https://finance.yahoo.com/news/berniesanders-joebiden-election-bye-bye-bernie-151757570.html