The left strikes out on single-payer — even in liberal California

The result has demoralized progressives and demonstrated the boundaries of their influence, even in a state like California, where Democrats control more than two-thirds of the Legislature.

The bill’s failure “illustrates what an uphill battle we have ahead of us,” said David Campos, a California Democratic Party official and single-payer advocate who is running for state Assembly. “I think we need to figure out where we go from here as a progressive movement,” he added.

The health care defeat is just the latest setback for the progressive movement amid signs the party is recalibrating its stances on policing and criminal justice. Elected officials from San Francisco to New York City have ramped up their tough-on-crime rhetoric in response to an uptick in violent incidents and a rash of organized property crimes that have left Democrats vulnerable to political attacks from the right.