Bernie Is the Opponent Trump Wants

Bernie Sanders is on the rise. A Rasmussen survey, taken in November for the conservative Heartland Institute, found that 20 percent of likely voters who expressed a very favorable view of Sanders also said they wouldn’t “vote for a presidential candidate who identifies himself or herself as a socialist.” Maybe these voters would set aside their aversion to socialism and elect Sanders. Unlike Biden and other candidates who favor a “public option”—a government-run health insurance plan that would compete with private insurers, offering consumers an extra choice—the Sanders “Medicare for All” bill would explicitly make it “unlawful for a private health insurer to sell health insurance coverage” or for “an employer to provide benefits” that “duplicate the benefits” offered by the government. In a December Fox News survey, 66 percent of voters endorsed “changing the health care system so that every American can buy into Medicare if they want to.” But only 41 percent supported “getting rid of private health insurance and moving to a government-run health care system for everyone.” In a December NPR/Marist poll, 56 percent of voters favored “a government-administered health plan … that would compete with private health insurance plans.” But only 40 percent favored “a national health insurance program for all Americans that replaces private health insurance.” Sanders would let companies sell supplemental insurance that doesn’t compete with his government-run plan. In September, a HarrisX poll found that when voters were offered a choice among five health insurance systems, 10 percent chose the hardcore socialist position, that “Medicare/Medicaid should be expanded to cover all citizens regardless of age or income, and private health plans should be abolished.” Another 27 percent chose the Sanders position, that “people should be able to purchase private supplemental plans.” On the other hand, 19 percent said “the current healthcare system should be kept as is.” And 18 percent said “the government should remove itself from paying for all health care.” That’s a 37 percent bloc on the left and a 37 percent bloc on the right.