We need progressive change, not just a manager of conservative ideas—to replace Trump

By SJ Otto

Just this week I read an article by Doyle McManus called “Pete Buttigieg has everything except positions on major issues,” an article I found quite relevant for the upcoming Democratic primaries for president. His article was in both TheWichita Eagle and it was also posted in the Los Angeles Times.

The article focused on Buttigieg (Television anchors have learned how to pronounce his Maltese last name “boot edge edge,” he says)  and he pointed out that this man has risen to number three in the polls. The problem he points to is that Buttigieg has skirted and avoided giving any real positions or issues. This is not surprising. Many Democrats have followed a strategy of raising lots of money, sticking to the political middle and avoiding any issues that might offend someone. It is a bad strategy and it needs to go.

This is a special election in that many of us want to prevent an eight year presidency for Donald Trump, who may be one of the worst presidents this country has ever had. But Trump has spread a lot of damage to this country and that needs to be reversed.

One of the most important issues of this campaign is health care. Trump has cost millions of people their health care and insurance by dismantling much of Obamacare (Affordable Care Act). He is trying to destroy all of Obamacare and costing even more people their health care, including getting rid of protections for people with preexisting conditions.

According to McManus:

“At a CNN town hall last month, voters asked his views on healthcare, unemployment, veterans’ benefits, climate change and whether technology companies like Facebook should be regulated.

His answers were a blend of generic Democratic positions and suggestions that more venturesome ideas should be considered.

On healthcare, Buttigieg says he believes the United States should “move in the direction of a ‘Medicare for all’ system,” but only gradually — not the immediate change to a government-run system proposed by Bernie Sanders.”

That is not good enough. That is the kind of answer, on healthcare, that we don’t need. People need health care now, not some time in the future. Trump and other Republicans have held back healthcare relief for many people who need it. It is time to reverse this kind of folly. We need a bold aggressive person who will reverse the damage Trump has caused. We don’t need a Democrat who just wants to manage it.

Now we have Joe Biden putting his hat in the ring. He was vice-president to Barack Obama and Obama was not a very progressive president. He tried to develop a national health care program while at the same time he wanted to protect insurance and pharmaceutical companies. It was better than nothing, but it is almost gone now. It can be fixed, but it would be better to have a government-run system as proposed by Sanders.

Biden is using words like “progressive” but he needs to be way more progressive than his former boss, Obama. He has already jumped to the top in the polls. But if he wants support from people like me, he better be way more progressive than Obama or Buttigieg. Once again we need an aggressive progressive, not a manager of conservative politics.

We need to kick some ass—Trump's ass!