Where We Are

Yesterday Bob Dole and Arnold Schwarzenegger joined the ranks of ex-senators Bill Frist, Howard Baker, Bush Administration HHS Secretary Tommy Thompson, New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg (who ran as a Republican, but who is now an independent)* and Mark McClellan, ( Food and Drug Administration and the Medicare and Medicaid programs under George W. Bush) as Out of the Beltway and often out of power republicans putting their stamp of approval on Healthcare Reform. Bobby Jindal could be included, as he wrote an op-ed endorsing everything in the Baucus bill while not demonstrating that he had any idea what was in it.

Dole:

"This is one of the most important measures members of Congress will vote on in their lifetimes," the former Republican Senate majority leader and presidential candidate told an audience in Kansas City today. "If we don't do it this year I don't know when we're gonna do it."

Tumulty and other noted that, as he did in the campaign, Obama is finding support among 'grown-up' Republicans who have become alienated from the mouth-foaming of Bachman, Beck and Boehner. This support only underlines his message 'I'm trying to bring this country back to the days when grown-ups could talk and make deals'. In November of 2008 most of the country was ready for that (Thanks, Sara P., for the boost!)

Andrew reminds us

Once you put this together with the CBO report arguing that the Baucus model will actually save money and cut the deficit (and with a fair public option could cut it some more), I think Obama is winning this argument, as the polls increasingly show. And if the reform proves popular, then the GOP will for ever be tarred as the party that refused to help more people get health insurance or to tackle healthcare costs

And that's been the plan all along.

Republicans are Dumbfucks.