Medicaid also helped Kansas Democrats win a 2018 election for governor, and on Thursday the state’s Democratic governor, Laura Kelly, and its Republican State Senate leader, Jim Denning, announced the details of their compromise to expand the program. The state will implement the expansion, covering up to 150,000 additional Kansans. In return, Republicans will get a pilot program meant to reduce private health insurance premiums and keep people from dropping existing insurance and signing up for Medicaid, paid for an increase in the state cigarette tax by a $1 per pack. The proposal would also allow the state to charge recipients a premium of up to $25 per individual and $100 per family. If and when it becomes law, Kansas will become the 37th state to expand its Medicaid program.

Major new programs are difficult to pass. The struggle to make them happen is almost always “divisive.” But if you fight that fight and win, then in addition to passing the program, you’ve also laid groundwork for future political victories. Despite being undermined by the Supreme Court, the Medicaid expansion has found a toehold in American politics, producing a powerful constituency for itself.

The social safety net depends on public support to survive. And one way to generate that support is to make it as strong and expansive as possible, with the most ambitious policies you can bring to fruition. Conservatives understand this in their bones. As Democrats debate their choices and decide on a presidential nominee, they should also keep this lesson uppermost in their minds.

The Times is committed to publishing a diversity of letters to the editor. We’d like to hear what you think about this or any of our articles. Here are some tips. And here's our email: letters@nytimes.com.

Follow The New York Times Opinion section on Facebook, Twitter (@NYTopinion) and Instagram.