Delaney calls ‘Medicare for All’ ‘political suicide’ for Democrats

Greg Nash

White House hopeful John Delaney called “Medicare for All” political suicide for Democrats in an op-ed Thursday, urging members of his party not to campaign on the health care policy.

“Medicare-for-all is bad policy for the country and bad politics for the Democratic Party. The Democratic nomination for president shouldn’t go to anyone who supports it, and Medicare-for-all shouldn’t be in the party’s 2020 platform,” the former Maryland congressman who frequently polls near 1 percent nationally wrote in The Washington Post.

{mosads}”It is political suicide. If the Democratic Party emerges as the party that closed hospitals and made millions of people shift out of a health-care plan they like, the electoral cost will be severe,” Delaney continued.

Delaney’s op-ed comes days after he slammed Medicare for All at the California Democratic Party convention in San Francisco over the weekend.

“Medicare for All may sound good, but it’s actually not good policy nor is it good politics,” he told the liberal voters to a chorus of boos.

Former Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper (D) was also booed for blasting Medicare for All during the event.

Fellow 2020 contender Sen. Michael Bennet (D-Colo.) has previously taken heat for criticizing the health care proposal.

A significant portion of the 24 2020 candidates have shown support for Sen. Bernie Sanders‘s (I-Vt.) Medicare for All proposal that he first championed during his 2016 presidential campaign.

The House version of Medicare for All, sponsored by Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.), has 110 Democratic co-sponsors.

The Senate version sponsored by Sanders is backed by 14 senators, including four who are running for president.

Tags Bernie Sanders John Delaney John Hickenlooper Michael Bennet Pramila Jayapal

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