Frum: Republican Waterloo
Former Bush speechwriter David Frum says it’s hard to exaggerate the magnitude of the GOP disaster. And he blames this “most crushing legislative defeat since the 1960s” on conservatives and Republicans:
At the beginning of this process we made a strategic decision: unlike, say, Democrats in 2001 when President Bush proposed his first tax cut, we would make no deal with the administration. No negotiations, no compromise, nothing. We were going for all the marbles. This would be Obama’s Waterloo – just as healthcare was Clinton’s in 1994.
Only, the hardliners overlooked a few key facts: Obama was elected with 53% of the vote, not Clinton’s 42%. The liberal block within the Democratic congressional caucus is bigger and stronger than it was in 1993-94. And of course the Democrats also remember their history, and also remember the consequences of their 1994 failure.
This time, when we went for all the marbles, we ended with none.
Read the whole post. His conclusion:
When Rush Limbaugh said that he wanted President Obama to fail, he was intelligently explaining his own interests. What he omitted to say – but what is equally true – is that he also wants Republicans to fail. If Republicans succeed – if they govern successfully in office and negotiate attractive compromises out of office – Rush’s listeners get less angry. And if they are less angry, they listen to the radio less, and hear fewer ads for Sleepnumber beds.
So today’s defeat for free-market economics and Republican values is a huge win for the conservative entertainment industry. Their listeners and viewers will now be even more enraged, even more frustrated, even more disappointed in everybody except the responsibility-free talkers on television and radio. For them, it’s mission accomplished. For the cause they purport to represent, it’s Waterloo all right: ours.
Do you think maybe we’ll see the re-emergence of some moderate Republicans?
Frum video above via TPM. Below, for fun…
71 Responses to “Frum: Republican Waterloo”
What Frum and many of the posters dont understand is that the Democrats had no interest in working with the GOP, so a “moderate” GOP that tried to create input to the bill would have been rejected by Pelosi and Reid and Obama. Frum is right, Obama won 53%, why should he compromise.
ahhhhhh…govt subsides to purchase insurance is indeed an entitlement
One thing Frum hasnt bother to mention is that it is his boss that got us here, more specifically Iraq. Without the Iraq war, Obama would have never been elected and the GOP would not have suffered such large congressional losses in 2006, 2008
Frum is wrongly assuming there was a place at the table for the GOP…there wasnt.
Sorry McDonnell ran as an unabashed conservative as did the entire GOP ticket in VA. Not wanting Palin to campaign for you doesnt mean youre not conservative, it means youre aware of the political realities in your state. What exactly moderate position did the GOP VA ticket take???
Well GF, and GHWB both lost re-election. RR was no moderate in his rhetoric
“For starters they could take an honest look at themselves and admit how badly the party has been rotted by the influence of FOX, Limbaugh, the conservative entertainers over the years.”
It's too easy to say that, though it's probably worth a thought. The real issue, though, isn't the messengers, but the message. There is no definitive, much less attractive, message!
Outsourcing to Heritage looks better to me than ever as something they ought to consider. Heritage doesn't match me politically, but it's the modern model for US conservatism and “conventionality.” (model for the USA, in general)
http://www.heritage.org/
I'm waiting to see what the Dems do. They've recovered for now and pushed past the GOP opposition (will face it the rest of the year if the GOP has any brains left). Will the Dems abuse their position again, as they have done all last year, which put them in this predicament with health care, or will they learn their lesson, back off the idiotic throttle setting, and fully exploit the vast power advantage they have now? It's theirs to use or abuse, to exploit or to waste again.
* * *
As far as Frum, he's a DC fixture-parasite. Anyone who has reverence for or worship of oversized Washington to the extent it's wrong to question it, much less consider reducing its size or scope, is a DC parasite and part of the problem that has developed in this country. (People like him will join the politicians who retire by the 2020s when it's no longer fun and an unlimited or little-limited power and influence ego trip to be there rather than in the provinces with the obedient peasantry.)
btw, when Reagan was pres., the upper tax bracket was 50%.
[...] Frum: Republican Waterloo The Moderate Voice – Mar 21st – 19:05 [...]
Great job Barack 'Duke of Wellington' Obama !
Thanks for taking us to VICTORY at Waterloo !
ekaneti says: Frum is wrongly assuming there was a place at the table for the GOP…there wasnt.
It didn't seem so at first. A lot of the posturing (dems and repubs) seems to have been more related to the role/attitude of Pelosi. Scripted from the right by Rush and other wingnut harpies who put the fear of retribution in centrist republicans. From the dems, my take on that is Team Obama just was inexperienced in how to take political prisoners and negotiate. With a team led by Rahm Emanuel, it may have been ” as good as it gets.” Frankly, E. J. Dionne's column carried in TMV on 3/20 made a lot of sense to me. That's purdy scary. I believe if republican centrists had participated they would have been scorched by Fox n' Rush. It probably would have scared hell out of Team Obama too.
ekaneti says: ” Well GF, and GHWB both lost re-election. RR was no moderate in his rhetoric
”
Of course, you are right about all 3. Dutch was masterful. I never heard him call anyone a name or question a person's character. He used qualitative descriptions which didn't routinely question patriotism, heritage or orientation. His handling of St. Jimmy Carter in the presidential debates was incredible, bending his head to the side and saying, “Now there you go again!” He whipped Carter's fanny before St. Jimmy knew what happened. In the end he was gracious to Carter and allowed him to go to Germany to meet the freed hostages from Iran. He returned civility to the White House along with the evening cocktail hour (may his soul rest in peace) saying after work 2 men could be friends. Remember Tip O'neal was the first person to Reagan side in the hospital when the President was shot.
GHW Bush lost his re-election because of the nut from GA Newtie Gingrich and his contract on America. Of course, that is not a secret. Bush was a good person and eminently qualified to be president, more so than anyone since John Q. Adams. Had it not been for the recklessness in his own party he would have had a better chance of re-election. He proved to be a stable leader in the Iraqi war. For the life of me though, I never understood why he couldn't creatively capitalize on the dissolution of the soviet empire. I don't mean parade around like a bantum rooster on an aircraft carrier with a banner that reads “Mission Accomplished.”
As for Gerald Ford, he's a fellow Eagle Scout and I like(d) him. Even with his pardoning of Tricky Dicky and his bungling he came close to re-election. 297 – 240 electoral and about 2% in popular vote. He didn't want to be president, he wanted to be speaker. But he was fine, principaled man who stood up to the lug nuts against the era and abortion. My guess is the pardon of Milhous and his misnomer about the freedom of one othe Soviet Satellite states sunk him. He was relatively free of vitriol and was certainly a centrist. He could certainly the parade today.
Glad you asked.
1. Repeal McCarran-Ferguson.
2. Shut the AMA out of the RBRVS pricing. Determine a more reasonable wages for different doctors (GPs probably deserve more, many specialists, less), scaled for cost-of-living in the area.
3. Do cost-benefits analysis on treatments, to determine when a treatment isn't worth the cost.
4. Re-allow drug purchases from other countries, and negotiate drug prices for government programs.
5. Tax insurance policies the same, to start freeing the market from employer-purchased plans.
In short, tell the medical leeches to take a hike.
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[...] Frum: Republican Waterloo The Moderate Voice – Mar 21st – 19:05 [...]
[...] Frum: Republican Waterloo The Moderate Voice – Mar 21st – 19:05 [...]
Then it fell to 28%
No GHW Bush lost because of the recession of 1990-91, Perot and Breaking his No New Taxes Pledge. Contract With America wasnt until fall 1994 and Clinton signed 7/10 of it.
GHW Bush was a good President. I hope history judges him well. He didnt run in 1988 as a moderate but as a Reagan clone. In July 1988, Dukakis lead Bush 52-35. In Aug, Bush hit him hard on crime, national defense, taxes, economy and won 54-46 and 420 EVs.
Ford would have been 1000better than Carter. Carter's gift to the west was an Islamic Republic of Iran
The Iraq War and the failure to win by Nov 2006, is why we are here.
Everybody’s got their opinion but I think Barbara Bush put it succinctly in her memoirs: “She blames Representative Newt Gingrich of Georgia, the presumptive leader of House Republicans in the next Congress, for wrecking negotiations with Democrats in 1990 over how to reduce the Federal deficit. Mr. Bush eventually agreed to break a campaign promise and raise income taxes to close the deficit, a decision some analysts say contributed mightily to his defeat in 1992.” In Newties’ presence she said, there’s the man that cost my husband the election. I don’t think there is any doubt among students of history that this is true. Certainly Lee Atwater made good on his promise to strip the bark off the little bastard (Dukakis) and hang Willie Horton around his neck. Dukakis had his chances but he ruined his image as a president when he was pictured riding around in a tank looking forever like Rocky the Squirrel. Too much, just too damned much. The whole world laughed. Of course, Dukakis’ actions were all fair game. Atwater later felt remorse on his death bed but that’s politics. Newtie’s official contract with the republicans did come after GHWB bit the dust, but his contract “on” America began much earlier. I agree with you that Bush ran on the “me too” RR syndrome. But what else could he do. RR had pretty much begun the lonely Alzheimer’s road by the end of his presidency and political circumstances were very difficult especially with Iran-Contra, bibles, arms, money and Ollie North. Bush made the best of it I believe. The so called “recession” of 1990/91 was much ado about nothing. James Carville blew that up into a cause célèbre, “it’s the economy stupid” and Clinton was off and running. Bush was right to refuse legislation favoring multi-million dollar tax abatement for Ross Perot. You are correct it did cost him Perot set after him but it was not the critical factor and it was the right thing for Bush to do. I know you mentioned Jimmy Carter and if you think he was a failure, then I agree with you 100%. He’s another story. Have a nice day; it’s time for a Scotch.
[...] Frum: Republican Waterloo The Moderate Voice – Mar 21st – 19:05 [...]
No – I don't believe they will. The GOP will split soon. Maybe 2 or 3 election cycles left. They are fracturing.