SANDERS: Well, here. President Trump said a whole lot of stuff on the campaign trail. One of the things he talked about was lowering the cost of prescription drugs. There is wonderful legislation right now in the Senate to do that. President Trump, come on board. Let's work together. Let's end the absurdity of Americans paying by far the highest prices in the world for prescription drugs.

Later, Sanders continued:

Look, what rational people would do is say, what are the problems [with Obamacare]? How do we fix it? Are deductibles too high? Of course they are. Are there some parts of the country where people don't have a choice? Yes, that's true. Let us do, among other things, a public option. Let us give people in every state in this country a public option from which they can choose. Let's talk about lowering the age of Medicare eligibility from 65 to 55. Let's deal with the greed of the pharmaceutical industry.

Let's be clear: Republicans control the White House and both houses of Congress, and after suffering last week's high-profile embarrassment, there is a 0.0 percent chance that Paul Ryan will have any interest in the an alternative proffered by Bernie Freaking Sanders, a self-described democratic socialist who has been one of the most vocal critics of Donald Trump since, well, the moment Donald Trump became a thing. And as Dana Bash correctly pointed out, not even President Obama and a Democrat-led House and Senate could get a public option done back when the Affordable Care Act was still in its planning stages.

That said, there's never been a better time for Sanders and other would-be reformers to make their pitches to prospective voters. The last year of frenzied debate over the future of Obamacare has created what must be the most informed electorate in history on the subject, and although Trumpcare had the best chance on paper of passing—seriously, how did they blow that?—its failure begs the question of what other options might be out there. By throwing his hat into the ring this early, Sanders is sending a clear message ahead of the 2018 midterm elections: If you didn't like Trumpcare, come help me make this happen instead.

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