Sanders is more interested in picking fights than winning them

[Recursion]

I think people misunderstand the "electability" argument. It's not really about policies. Voters don't really care about policies. It's about if a politician is willing to do the work and make the deals that you have to do and make to get change to happen.

You can absolutely run an electable campaign on Medicare For All, for instance. But you have to show that you're more interested in actually moving towards that goal than in being seen "fighting" for that goal. You have to show that you understand who the stakeholders in that question are, and whether they can be persuaded or co-opted, or will need to be opposed. This is the step where, for me, Sanders absolutely fails: he's more interested in fighting than in winning. He doesn't say anything to address the worries of people whose insurance is currently free through their employers and would be facing a payroll tax. He doesn't say anything to address the worries of small businesses who do pay insurance now and would be asked to keep footing that bill as a tax while their competitors who free ride get to keep doing that. He doesn't address the concerns of rural hospitals that will have to radically restructure themselves if they go entirely to Medicare reimbursement levels. No: the idea is "right", and that's all that matters, and if you are not on board your motivations must be corrupt.