As my regular Sandersday feature winds down, the question now is what impact Bernie’s campaign will have on the Democratic Party in the future. Here are my projections:
1. Break up the big banks! The role of the big banks in the economy is not an issue that resonates with the average American on a daily basis. The statute of limitations has run on this one. Barring a new crisis and bailout, banks will not be a big issue in future campaigns.
2. Free public college for all: This is a really bad idea, partly embraced by the Clinton campaign (alas), that will not get through Congress. I suspect and hope that it, too, will disappear in the future.
3. Single-payer: Single-payer is an excellent idea that is simply politically impossible, because it treads on too many powerful vested interests. The best hope for a kind of single-payer system would be to adopt the public option and see if it overwhelms the competition.
4. Expanding social security: The Clinton campaign has accepted this in a small way. It will be on the table in the future.
On the whole, while most of Bernie’s ideas for the expansion of the welfare state were unsophisticated or impractical, I give him credit for at least beginning the discussion. I think the UBI and EITC expansion will be seriously debated in 2020.