With just a couple of weeks until the Democratic National Convention, more than 500 delegates who supported U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., during the presidential have threatened to vote against the party’s platform unless it includes “Medicare for All.”
“This could be a real clash among Democrats,” said political analyst Michelle Ertel, a commentator on Florida’s I Heart Radio. Ertel said this could be a real problem for Democrats in November if the Sanders camp doesn’t get what they want.
A rift has already taken place. Last week, on a conference call, Sanders supporters were told by Jeff Weaver, a senior advisor to Sanders, to stop pushing Medicare for All.
According to Jordan Chariot, the co-founder of the progressive news outlet Status Coup, Sanders supporters told other delegates, if they didn’t stop pushing for Medicare for All to be included the party platform, “they’d be going against the movement.”
Status Coup also noted that some of the leaders of the Sanders campaign were using “bullying tactics to convince everyone to drop their proposals.”
Former state Rep. Matt Caldwell, the Republican nominee for Florida agriculture commissioner in 2018 and now a news Analyst for Southwest Florida Fox News radio affiliate 92.5, said everyone should keep an eye on this story.
“COVID is a top issue. The economy another top issue. But if you talk about replacing existing Medicare with Medicare for All, this could hurt Biden here in Florida, especially in South Florida with senior citizens,” said Caldwell.
Caldwell pointed out to the lastest Mason-Dixon poll which shows President Donald Trump doing well in Florida among seniors.
“Most candidates move to the center when running for higher office,” Ertel said. “Biden seems to be moving more to the left and if the Sanders crowd threatens to bolt from the party over the issue of health-care, could hurt Biden in November.”
So far, former Vice President Joe Biden, who will be formally named as the Democrats’ presidential candidate later this month, has opposed Medicare for All and supports expanding the Affordable Care Act.
Reach Ed Dean at ed.dean@floridadaily.com.
