Taegan Goddard's Political Wire

November 13, 2009

What Will Republicans Do if Health Care Passes?

Ron Brownstein notes that if President Obama does sign a health care reform bill, "which appears more likely than not, Republicans will face a momentous choice between consolidation and repudiation -- between accepting the new program and seeking to dismantle it. The alternative paths are neatly captured by the GOP's contrasting reactions to the two central cords of America's existing social safety net."

"After FDR got Social Security approved in 1935, Alf Landon, his Republican challenger in 1936, denounced it... Roosevelt's landslide victory over Landon (and subsequent re-elections) provided Social Security the time to build impregnable support..."

"By contrast, Republicans largely accepted Medicare soon after President Johnson signed it into law in 1965."

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Taegan D. Goddard is the creator of Political Wire, a political column updated around the clock with the most interesting news, buzz and commentary.

Goddard is also co-author of You Won - Now What? (Scribner, 1998), a political management book hailed by prominent journalists and politicians from both parties. In addition, Goddard's essays on politics and public policy have appeared in dozens of newspapers across the country, including the Washington Post, USA Today, Boston Globe, San Francisco Chronicle, Chicago Tribune, Philadelphia Inquirer and Christian Science Monitor.

This is a personal site and does not necessarily reflect the views of any company, political campaign or advocacy group.

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