Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz (D) said this week that universal health care will be the ticket for a Democratic president to remain in power once they get there.
Walz, the Democratic vice presidential nominee in 2024, held forth on MS NOW’s “The Weeknight ” after announcing he had established a new PAC to support rural interests.
“Progressives win elections, but they can’t hold power,” he said on Monday. “We have to figure out once we move in a progressive way, once we see a Barack Obama win, once we see a Congress win, it has to be about not holding power for the sake of holding power. It has to be about passing things.”
“When we take power back, I’ll tell you what, the next Democratic president better figure out a way to get universal health care, [or] we’re back in the same situation again. And it better improve the lives of those rural hospitals, because that’s the way you get true power. Because we don’t want to win to just win. We want to win so we can enact policies that improve people’s lives.”
Even Pope Leo XIV called for universal health care in not just the U.S. but everywhere, saying last month it was a “moral imperative.”
A Pew Research Center survey published in December indicated that 66% of Americans believe it is the government’s job to make sure all Americans receive health care coverage. But how such a program is implemented is another matter. Of those in favor, 35% prefer a single health insurance program run by the government and 31% want a mix of private companies and government programs to provide the insurance.
It’s worth noting that nearly 60% of Republicans and GOP-leaning independents oppose government health coverage for all, according to the poll.
However, the time might be right if Democrats can win back the chambers of Congress in the midterms and perhaps retake the White House in 2028. Progressive Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.) said support for “Medicare for All” is at a high.
“Health care is still the number one cost concern for Americans,” Jayapal said, per Politico. “You cannot be too left on health care.”