You both make some good points. I do think that not fighting for a single payer system was a calculated move. They went with what they could make work and they did it. Maybe this is why the right is floundering so badly. They're pushing ideology over practicality which is alienating them from the people.
You also seem to be making a fundamental mistake in your thinking. There are 300 million people here. It's like turning an oil freighter. It takes time. Someday we'll have single payer but we're not ready for it today.