The key flashpoint between the Clinton and Sanders campaigns has been over something they both want—universal healthcare, and again this is something where Clinton could be really misreading the base in attacking Sanders on Medicare for All. Her defense of the Affordable Care Act is welcome and important, but she's being too much the policy wonk on this by arguing for tweaks to Obamacare when what the Democrats should be doing in a general election is claiming ground on making healthcare truly universal.
This is the strongest point Sanders makes in the debate—both tonight and in general—that there are still 29 million people uninsured and that we are still paying three times more per person for healthcare than the French or the Brits. What Medicare for All would do, Sanders argues is finally secure healthcare as a right for everyone—for all the people. Right now, what we have to deal with is that 29 million still don't have insurance, and that we're paying far more per person than any other country.
Clinton doesn't want to have that fight again. Doesn't want to "start over with a whole new debate again that would set us back." That's a cautious approach that might be the wrong one. Yes, we need to build on Obamacare and we need to do it with the momentum that Obamacare's success has brought.
We also need to build on Obamacare's success while it's on the upswing, because the reality is individual people aren't seeing the great cost savings that the government is seeing. As far as the American working buying health insurance is concerned, the system just isn't working.