Politics
Out of context: Reply #11303
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Results Are All That Matter
Today, when David Frum wrote that this was turning out to be the GOP's Waterloo, he had two interlocking points -- one focused on policy, another political.
The US has had several runs with major pieces of social legislation. And the record is that they don't get repealed. They're expanded and become embedded in the national political economy. That was what was at the heart of Bill Kristol's famous (or infamous) memo on reform from 1994. Once Health Care reform is passed; the middle class will like it. And there will be no repealing or doing away with it. And its success would create a new generation of Democrats. That was his fear.
To that end, Frum's policy point was, who cares if the Republicans take back Congress? Majorities come and go. But reform is permanent. For conservatives it's a catastrophic development and if they'd actually been part of the dialog they probably could have gotten a bill much more to their liking. The second point is political, though he's less clear in this case. Republicans, he says, are probably overestimating their chances this fall in any case.
I'm far from wanting to hazard a prediction. But I've thought for a while that this is right. Seven months is always a long time in politics. But this seven months particularly could be very long indeed.
- Exactly, most conservatives are probably going to end up liking it and go back to bitching about taxes and abortion.Mimio