With the announcement that Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., has qualified for the September debate we now are guaranteed a critical mass of center-left candidates who, for example, advocate building on Obamacare rather than scraping it for a single-payer plan. In addition to Klobuchar, Beto O'Rourke, South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg and former vice president Joe Biden favor a public option while Sen. Cory Booker, D-N.J., seems to want to split the difference by aiming for Medicare-for-all but starting with a public option.
That group of center-left candidates would do well to make several points and force the advocates of Medicare-for-all to defend their plans:
• The goal is universal coverage and affordable healthcare.