Don’t Be a Coward, Joe Biden: Debate Bernie Sanders on Health Care
Bernie Sanders challenged Joe Biden to an hour-long debate on health care last week. But Biden still hasn’t taken him up on the offer — because he knows Bernie would trounce him.
Democratic presidential candidates Bernie Sanders and former vice president Joe Biden raise their hands during the Democratic presidential primary debate at the Charleston Gaillard Center on February 25, 2020 in Charleston, South Carolina. Win McNamee / Getty
The Democratic presidential primary has narrowed to a showdown between Joe Biden and Bernie Sanders. In recent days, taking advantage of the binary contest, Sanders has drawn sharp contrasts between himself and Biden — even challenging Biden to a head-to-head debate on health care:
Medicare for All is wildly popular with working class and lower income people who understand that we have a dysfunctional health care system. I would love to debate Joe Biden on this issue, give us an hour on MSNBC . . . You want to defend that system? Let’s do it.
Although Democratic National Committee chair Tom Perez has rejected calls for single-issue debates, there’s nothing technically stopping the candidates from holding one. Voters deserve more than a few minutes on these subjects, and health care has been the number-one issue for Democratic primary voters. Biden should agree to face off with Sanders.
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