Democratic Primaries

Bernies ideas are all in the right direction. And ideas do sell, whether they are conceived and developed in a competent, rational, creative process or not.

Trump's wall sells. It's asinine, but it sells.

Medicare for all would sell better if the salesman were better, but it is also a poorly conceived product. It's a good idea, just not a good product. It sounds good and simple on the surface. But under the covers, it probably makes seniors think an already incomplete, Rube Goldberg system they are in is suddenly going to be loaded up with demand from everyone. Also, those who know how Medicare works for those on it know that it is far from ideal. It has four parts, each with its own costs, each with its own limits, and all without a maximum out of pocket.

Bernie should have sold a National Healthcare Plan that would be better than Medicare. "He did do that," you'll tell me. "That's what his Medicare for All really is." But no. He didn't sell that, because he called it the wrong thing, and he couldn't explain how it could come to exist in the real world.

Biden's approach is far superior, from a product design standpoint and from a sales standpoint. Enhance Obamacare. Extend its reach. Add a public option. That latter element provides a demand driven, choice driven engine that would attract people. Over time, that engine would create national health care as more and more people and businesses simply opted for it. In other words, Biden's realistic product comes with a process that is self-building.

Bernie has "been on the right side" of many, many issues in the past. But he couldn't sell them. There was no market, and Bernie is no Steve Jobs, able to create a market where there wasn't one.

For example, Bernie's opposition to the war in Iraq probably ironically helped sell the war in Iraq. He was seen as such a stubborn, unpersuasive outlier that his opinion served to strengthen the opinion he opposed. He was the exception that proved the rule, not the rule changer.

Anyway, enough about Bernie. The stick in the mud has a place in getting us to the right answers. I consider myself a bit of one, and always respect the people who complain when the reasons are there. To get the problem solved, though, we need sales, product design, and then leadership. That's why I'm with Biden.