Bernie Sanders is a Bad Salesman

Body language speaks volumes and Bernie's body language is not welcoming or inclusive.

Too bad that Bernie won't be around to see it happen -- that is how badly he has hurt his own cause.

The real shame is that if he had been a better salesman the outcome might have been different. Bernie Sanders is like the dog who chases cars. You know that if he finally catches a car he won't know what to do and he won't be able to form a coalition to figure it out, either. Because angry dogs who chase cars don't form coalitions.

It is time for a new personality to carry the flag from here. And I use the word flag deliberately, because Bernie Sanders has failed to invoke patriotism in support of his agenda. He does not sell it as our patriotic duty, he sells it like, "Just listen -- we are the only western democracy who doesn't have universal health coverage and if you idiots weren't so stupid you would see that."

I'm sorry, but that is not a sales approach.

When the industrial military complex wants a new aircraft carrier they invoke the flag and patriotism. When active duty military members want better pay and benefits they invoke the flag and patriotism. Now that is a sales approach.

WHAT IS MORE PATRIOTIC THAN DEFENDING THE HEALTH OF AMERICANS HERE AT HOME?

Somehow, this simple and obvious truth has evaded Bernie Sanders and he is pitching his plan on moral grounds, not on patriotic grounds.

Instead he should be drumming home this equivalency:

UNIVERSAL HEALTH CARE = NATIONAL DEFENSE

Most Americans would agree with this statement:

"What good is a shiny new aircraft carrier if a member of your family member cannot get access to the insulin needed to control their diabetes?"

Unfortunately, I have never heard Bernie Sanders use this equivalency as an argument. He keeps talking about universal health coverage as a moral imperative, the evidence of which is that every other OECD country already has it.

Sorry, Bernie, you've spent so long as an outsider, griping and sniping, that you are unable to sell this to the public. Time for a new messenger.

And, hopefully they can drop the mantle of "democratic socialism" which is non-starter in America. Universal health coverage is 100% compatible with capitalism, patriotism and nationalism. Presenting it as a "socialist" agenda is wrong and damaging to the effort.