>How do the single payer folks on this list expect to win? That's what I'm
>not hearing. Zero strategy, zero power analysis.
Hmm, how does the UFCW expect to unionize Wal-Mart? A weak, dim union against a corporate powerhouse. Do they have a strategy, an analysis of power?
But what kind of questions are these? How do you ever expect to win a political struggle? The ancient holy trinity - agitate, educate, and organize. If the unions that are now wasting time on this chimerical "fair share" scheme would look beyond their own timidity and self-interest, they could be the core of a single-payer movement.
Conyer's bill, HR 676, to universalize Medicare has 68 co-sponsors <http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/z?d109:HR00676:@@@P>. That's not inconsiderable. A quick look makes it seem like they're pretty much the same as the membership of the House Progressive Caucus <http://www.congressionalprogressivecaucus.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=16&Itemid=27>, a group you've touted in the past. So there's a hint of a strategy: support the supporters, and support candidates who support the bill. I believe you've suggested as much about other issues in the past. That's especially promosing when the Dems are polling very very well in the generic Congressional choice right now. And since single-payer also polls surprisingly well, why is the path so murky and daunting to you? It seems quite realistic to me.
Doug