A Question I have for Bernie Sanders

[Blue_true]

38. Senator Sander's behavior as Governor Shumlin struggled to get Single Payer in Vermont

is seared into my brain like a hot branding iron was put to my skull. He just totally disowned what was happening in Vermont and made zero effort to help. I can only guess that he was concerned that if Shumlin and the then heavily democratic Legistlature succeeded, one day one of them would run for his seat.

The result of Shumlin trying so hard is that his political career in Vermont was damaged enough that he either did not run for reelection or was defeated (I forget which), it resulted in a republican governor and more republicans in the Legistlature.

That fiasco is why I became a virulent Bernie Sanders phobe. I didn't know of some of the other things that have come out about what he is like, but all I needed was that Single Payer incident. Vermont tried to be first, and if they had succeeded, we may be having a vastly different discussion about healthcare today (just like Hillary's try in the 90s, an effort which House member Sanders weighed down with demands, then did lukewarm support for - how many people died because of a lack of adequate healthcare coverage between 1994 and 2010?)