Of all the candidates, only Dennis Kucinich has the courage to call for a "single payer" (government-run) health-care system, the kind used successfully by every other industrialized nation in the world.

And this, in my opinion, brings to mind the greatest problem the Democrats face: letting the Republicans define them.

The Fox News spinners, like those on MSNBC, giggle at a candidate like Kucinich and dismiss him as a representative of the lunatic fringe.

But I ask you, how crazy is it to try to drag America into the 21st century when it comes to health care? (To say nothing of the 20th! Germany has had universal health care for more than 100 years.)

And how crazy would it be to finally, finally, relieve employers of the responsibility of providing health care for their employees? Right now, the payment of health-care costs is perhaps the biggest sticking point between unions and employers.

...Something's going on in this country, and the Democrats had better pick up on it. Books by Moore, Al Franken and other outspoken liberal writers are selling big. There is a hunger for reform, for the return of decency to our nation's politics and policies.

The Democrats can provide that. But to do so they have to return to their Democratic roots. More important, they have to stop letting the Republicans define them. Good Democrats are good people who are good for our country. Wishy-washy, lukewarm Democrats aren't good for anything.

posted by Cyndy | link | | |