The argument over universal health care raging within the Democrat party took an unexpected twist Sunday. While speaking at the California Democrat Convention former Rep. John Delaney said “Medicare for All” is “actually not good policy.” The crowd booed and Delaney didn’t care.

“We should have universal health care, but it shouldn’t be the kind of health care that kicks 150 million Americans off their health care,” Delaney said Sunday between boos. “That’s not smart policy. I want everyone to have health care, but it’s got to be a plan that works for every American.”

Delaney, appearing unfazed by the booing crowd, added, “This is called the battle of ideas, my friends.”

That opinion from Delaney is not a new one. He was the first Democrat to jump into the 2020 Democrat primary, only a few months after President Trump began his term in office, on July 28, 2017. Most people still don’t know who he is but he’s not a far-left loon from the AOC wing of the party. He’s a liberal Democrat, to be clear, but he’s not a Socialist.

AOC, you may remember, has declared herself the boss of her party and she doesn’t take kindly to those who will not fall in line with the most extreme policy ideas. So, when Delaney strayed from the standard talking points about universal health care, she tweeted that he should just go away. There are too many candidates running for the nomination anyway, you know.

Since there’s so many people running for President (& not enough for Senate), instead of obsessing over who‘s a “frontrunner,” maybe we can start w some general eliminations.

This awful, untrue line got boo’ed for a full minute.

John Delaney, thank you but please sashay away 👋🏽 https://t.co/0RDOwbfcgv

— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) June 2, 2019

Sunday night Delaney responded to the bossy freshman.

Hey @AOC, we have the same goal, universal healthcare for everyone, we just have different ways of getting there. Healthcare is the #1 issue for voters, so let’s debate the way forward. Any show of your choosing. Healthcare is too important for tweets, we need real discussion. https://t.co/LDrWa9sZQD

— John Delaney (@JohnDelaney) June 3, 2019

By Monday morning Delaney was tweeting about tolerance of alternative ideas while ironically bashing Republicans and President Trump. I told you he is one of them (Democrats), just not as close to the edge of the cliff as AOC.

My plan provides healthcare coverage to every America as a right & it preserves private health insurance for those want it. Others favor Medicare For All, which makes private insurance illegal. Most Republicans favor doing nothing and eliminating the ACA. What's your choice?

— John Delaney (@JohnDelaney) June 3, 2019

It looks like to me that the main difference between Delaney and AOC’s wing of the party is over the elimination of private insurance. Delaney wants to keep it while AOC has signed on to Bernie Sanders’ bill in the Senate which ends the private health insurance market. Other 2020 hopefuls currently in the Senate co-sponsored the legislation – Sens. Booker, Gillibrand, Harris, and Warren.

Delaney, a successful businessman from the private sector before entering politics, wants to guarantee universal health care but his plan calls for keeping the option for private insurance coverage.

Guarantee universal coverage. Individuals would be automatically enrolled in the new public plan, with no complicated procedures to follow. People would be allowed to opt-out and receive a tax credit to buy their own insurance policy if they choose.

Keep private insurance options. Individuals and employers will be able to purchase and negotiate supplemental coverage from private insurers to cover additional health needs. These supplementals could merge into the basic plan to make it easier for the user.

Employers would be encouraged to negotiate group rate supplemental plans that would merge with the basic governmental plan so that employees would be able to keep similar health care plans, many of which are very popular and important to American families.

Delaney tweeted that only 10% of Americans want the option for private health insurance to be eliminated.

Just so we are all on the same page, only 10% of Americans want to eliminate private insurance. The most popular option is my approach – give every American healthcare as a right but allows private insurance options. https://t.co/q67ehrPKU4

— John Delaney (@JohnDelaney) June 3, 2019

The base of the Democrat Party made up the audience at the California convention and they were not willing to listen to either John Hickenlooper’s denouncement of Socialism or Delaney’s criticism of Medicare for All. The base is falling victim to the oxymoron of Democratic Socialism. With this trend, Delaney is right. They’ve learned absolutely nothing since the election of Donald Trump in 2016 and guarantee his re-election in 2020 if they continue down this path.

I have a plan for universal healthcare where everyone gets healthcare as a right. But is also allows for private insurance. 150 million Americans have private insurance and 70% of them like it. If we run on making their plans illegal – which Medicare For All does – we will lose. https://t.co/haBwIJWUzm

— John Delaney (@JohnDelaney) June 2, 2019