Why I Respect the Democrats On the Health Care Bill

There is a lot of anger out there. Politicians being called crooks, corrupt, and looking at for themselves etc etc.

The problem is that a lot of these Individual Democrats are supporting something that will likely cause them defeat. While its popular to say "throw them out" and "all they care about is getting reelected" is it really true in this case?

When from a GOP viewpoint does just buying into a cliche and repeating a millions times becomes well counterproductive because we are not seeing the big picture.

Andy McCarthy makes a similar point:

Mark's Dems Strategic / GOP Tactical Theory [Andy McCarthy]
The best thing about Mark Steyn's guest-host stint on Hannity last night — other than Jonah's joining him on the panel — was that Mark asked some pointed questions of two brilliant political strategists, Dick Morris and Karl Rove, that seemed rooted in Mark's theory that, on health care and all it entails, "The Dems are thinking strategically; the Republicans are all tactics." For my money, I think the theory is being borne out: Democrats have their eyes on a different end-game than our guys do: namely, the establishment of permanent, European-style socialism in the U.S. Our guys are focused on converting Obama radicalism into big-time electoral success in the next election cycle.

The Dems have already factored in that likelihood and are betting — over the long haul — that even if the GOP cuts deeply into Dem majorities or takes over Congress (and even takes over the White House in 2012), Republicans will lack the commitment (and perhaps the numbers) to roll back what the Left is accomplishing now.

That is, our guys are focused myopically on a battle the Democrats have already figured they can afford to lose. The real battle is: What do you do when you get back in power? Do you have a plan for how to undo what is being done? Do you frame the coming elections in a way that converts victory into a mandate not only to stop what Obama is doing but to undo what he has done?

I'm hearing a lot from our side about making big gains in the upcoming elections. That's not strategy or victory. You have to have a plan for what those gains would translate into. Democrats, by contrast, have a real plan for how what they're doing today will sustain Big Government, and themselves, over the long term, regardless of occasional electoral losses.
12/22 11:14 AMShare

So give it to them. While this gambit might produce Democrat victories in the future it is hard to see how it will benefit them when they are in the nursong home.