Editorial cartoon by Anthony JenkinsThe Globe and Mail
David Frum isn't exactly someone with whom I see eye-to-eye. But on Obamacare, our take on the consequences for the Republican party is in alignment.
In this powerful indictment of his party's bloviating populist wing, Frum basically says the Republicans were hijacked by their own rhetoric and boxed into an all-or-nothing blockade of health insurance reform. That high-risk gamble failed, and now the party is even more captive to its worst, least electable elements with no prospect of reversing this bill's major segments, even if they gain some short-term political advantage.
Frum is getting a lot of heat for taking on the talk radio-Fox News machine, but he's correct. The tail is wagging the dog in the Republican Party.
So long as Rush Limbaugh and Glenn Beck are the leadership of the GOP, success will be measured in outrage, polarization and the consequential spike in ratings.