Yesterday I wrote a diary saying that John Kerry was a sellout on health care because he represents America's most liberal state and yet refuses to cosponsor the Bernie Sanders single payer bill. Given national polling data showing a majority likely supporting Medicare for All, and given that Massachusetts residents apparently don't care much for Kerry's position on health care, and given that some even tried to primary him via Medicare for All supporter Ed O'Reilly in 2008 and lost partly due to being outspent by an enormous amount, I said that Kerry was a sellout.
I don't regret it one iota.
What really bodes ill for the health reform movement is how many people fanatically defend Kerry despite all the evidence. Imagine for a moment how the right would react if in Utah, America's most conservative state, Orrin Hatch refused to be clear about whether he opposed the public option. Would they say:
"Sure, we trust you, wonderful Senator Hatch."
Or would they say:
"Get the freak out you freakin' sellout!"
I have a feeling it would be closer to the last one. And this is why they are winning the national debate and we are losing.
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