Says Jonah Goldberg:
Hence, the quest for the middle ground usually rewards the worst kinds of politicians — those devoid of any core convictions and only concerned with feathering their own nests — and yields the worst kinds of policies. Blending the two visions is like trying to marry two different recipes. You don’t get the best of both so much as a huge mess — say, peanut butter and caviar — or a fraudulent meal, like a “vegetarian” cheesesteak. Better to stay pure, have your way, and convince the American people that your way is the best way.
In short, if you can’t join ’em, beat ’em.
The Democrats sincerely believe that nationalized health care, in one form or another, is the best thing for America, and that if they can get it passed, voters will fall in love with it. Politically, there is a real danger they’re right. Americans are loath to relinquish entitlements once they’ve secured them. That’s the Republicans’ gamble.
Well, I say let it ride. And just to make it more interesting, Republicans should promise to repeal “Obamacare” if they get a congressional majority in 2010. As National Review’s Ramesh Ponnuru argues, that way moderate Democrats won’t be able to run away from their votes come 2010. They’ll be on notice that this will be the campaign issue of the election. And moderate Republicans will be on notice to resist the temptation to tinker with Obamacare rather than defenestrate it once it’s passed.
Sure, I’d rather see this health-care proposal die stillborn (and that’s still quite possible). But if it passes, the upside is that Americans will finally be given a stark philosophical choice on a fundamental issue. That’s much rarer than you might think (recall that the Iraq War and the bailouts were bipartisan affairs).
Goldberg has a great idea here, but he makes one error in judgment. We Conservatives have learned … the hard way … that today’s Republicans have no balls and cannot take a stand on principle if their lives depended on it. Today’s Republicans are nothing more than wishy-washy Democrats, too concerned with staying in office than they are following the will of the voters.
It certainly may be time to erase the Republican Party and put real effort into creating a 3rd Party that has a real chance in doing battle with the Progressive Neo-Socialist Liberal Democrats.
Democrat, entitlement, Republican, Obamacare, Conservative, 3rd Party, Progressive, Liberal
