Republican Fires at Republicans on Health Care
By Jonathan Weisman
Republicans have been gloating all week that they cant lose on health care; a Democratic victory on the House floor will mean Democratic defeat in November.
David Frum, a Republican former speech writer for George W. Bush, could not disagree more.
In an interview, he said an upturn in the economy is likely to diminish expected Republican gains in the midterm elections this November, regardless of the health care legislation. But beyond that, he said, defeat is defeat, and this is a huge one.
Majorities come and go. Sooner or later youre going to be back in power, he said Sunday night, as House Democrats moved toward passage of President Barack Obamas health-care plan. What the Democrats have achieved here is a change in the way American society works in their favor. Thats a bigger win than anything at the ballot box.
From the start, Republicans decided to bet the farm on scuttling the health-care legislation, to make the issue Obamas Waterloo. Instead, it will be the GOPs, Frum said. If he could have traded the Republican majority in Congress for a win on President Bushs push to add private investment accounts to Social Security, he would have gladly taken the deal.
In this case, Republicans could have shaped the health care bill more to their liking. They certainly could have changed the way it was financed and mitigated tax increases that conservatives truly hate. Instead, they gambled all or nothing, and they lost, Frum said. Theyll probably pick up seats in November, he shrugged. But what of it?
Its going to be a good Republican year clearly, and Im glad of that, he said, but if Democrats have won this fight they have scored a bigger win than any win Republicans can score at the ballot box.
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