"...the political survival of the Republican party probably depends on its defeating whatever health-care plan emerges from the scrum created by Messrs. Obama, Baucus, Kennedy, and Wyden.
"If the GOP fails, the beating it took in 2008 will pale in comparison to the decades-long drubbing that will follow." -- Cato's Michael Cannon, November 18, 2008
It seems that in recent national GOP debates, whether they are between presidential candidates or RNC Chairman hopefuls, there is a direct competition to see who can appear the most Reaganesque.
With respect to socialized healthcare, it seems that the GOP is divided into four factions: those really opposed to socialized healthcare, those who don't think socialized heathcare can be defeated, those who don't care that much about socialized healthcare but wish to gain as much political turf as possible over the issue, and those who actually favor additional government intervention into the healthcare marketplace.
I'd like to briefly address each of these four groups (after the jump).
Those really opposed to socialized healthcare: You already know the speaking points and how difficult the battle will be over the next few years. Many of you are veterans of the battle we fought over this issue in the nineties. In case you missed them, here are a fewmorebulletsI'verecentlyfound which may help in upcoming battles.
Those who don't think socialized heathcare can be defeated: I agree with Michael Cannon. If the GOP doesn't go after Obama and the Democrats on this issue, whatever small-government vestiges remain of the GOP brand will be forever lost to history. I also remember prominent Republicans making this argument right after Clinton won his first election. They were wrong then; those making this argument today are wrong now. It's merely a matter of how many resources the right is willing to put into this particular battle.
Those who don't care that much about socialized healthcare but wish to gain as much political turf as possible over the issue: A lot of Republicans I know fit into this category. I recall a fundraiser I attended in the mid-nineties where a certain GOP Senator was the guest of honor for a Congressman running for reelection. My wife and I ended up talking with that particular Senator a lot that evening. Most of the conversation I recall was about how much he deplored Hillary's healthcare plan and my wife and I left the event with a favorable impression of him. He sent us a nice letter after the event, which we framed and placed in a prominent place in our house. Fast forward a few years and he's one of the key people promoting the largest expansion of federal intervention into the healthcare marketplace this country has ever seen. Obviously, that letter no longer graces our wall.
While I preferred Mitt Romney to many of the other 2008 GOP presidential candidates, what he did in Massachussetts is no better than Medicare Part D. "Healthcare one can't refuse" is just as damaging to patients as the big donut hole in Part D. As my wife, who is a physician, told me tonight: "It really doesn't matter if the boot on one's neck is red or blue, my patients suffer equally."
Perhaps it's time for Republicans to remove the boot from the necks of my wife's patients.
Those who actually favor additional government intervention into the healthcare marketplace: While I'd prefer simply to spit you out of my mouth, I'll try a different approach. As I see it, you have two options facing you. You can either become more of a Democrat Lite and lose even more elections or follow the example of all of your recent GOP presidential and chairman wannabes: Selectively invoke the spirit of Ronald Reagan for your Machiavellian purposes.
You will win nothing but laughs aimed in your direction by trying to appeal to the dark side. There may be some future political advantage to at least pretending that you prefer a free market approach to healthcare.
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Before the Goldwater election, when an earlier version of this battle was being waged, Ronald Reagan had some sage words of advice. I'd recommend that people from each of these four categories spend ten minutes to listen to what he had to say on the topic: