Below The Beltway

Dan Larison makes this excellent point about the rumblings we’re hearing from Republicans about running on a promise to repeal the health care reform bill if it passes:
One of the major problems we face as a nation is the complete inability to dismantle an entitlement once it is established. Every entitlement typically creates a constituency [...]

Cato’s David Boaz explains what he’s looking for in a political candidate:
This year I’m looking for candidates who stand for freedom across the board, who want government constrained by the Constitution, who believe in the principles of individual liberty, limited government, free markets, and peace.
And that means I don’t want to back candidates who support
[...]

From the latest Rasmussen Reports poll:
Fifty percent (50%) of U.S. voters say they are less likely to vote for their representative in Congress this November if he or she votes for the health care plan proposed by President Obama and congressional Democrats.
A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey taken Wednesday night finds that 34% are [...]

We haven’t even had a vote on the health care bill yet, but Republicans are already plotting a repeal strategy:
Even as House Democrats search for the votes to send a health-care reform bill to President Obama, dozens of Republican lawmakers and candidates have signed a pledge to back an effort to repeal the measure, should [...]

I have a new column up at Pajama’s Media about the political implications of the health care reform battle.

The Cheneyites are nervous:
Senior Republicans in Kentucky and Washington D.C. are deeply concerned about Senate candidate Trey Grayson’s campaign as he struggles to narrow the gap against GOP primary rival Rand Paul.
Two months before the election, the libertarian-leaning Paul, son of the Texas congressman and quixotic presidential contender, has tapped into anti-Washington grass-roots fervor on [...]

Last night Arizona Senate candidate J.D. Hayworth appeared on Rachel Maddow’s show to discuss his comment on Sunday that authorizing gay marriage could lead to “men marrying horses”:

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The answer, of course, can be found in the decision itself:
Marriage also bestows enormous private and social [...]

One new poll seems to indicate that Congressional Democrats may be shooting themselves in the foot by voting for President Obama’s health care reform package:
Voters in key congressional districts are clear in their opposition to what they have seen, read and heard on health-care reform. That’s one of the findings of a survey that will [...]

Not quite sure why right wing nutjob and birther apologist J.D. Hayworth is obsessed with equine nuptials, but here it is:

Patrick Caddell and Douglas Schoen, both long time Democratic political analysts, have a blunt warning for their party in today’s Washington Post:
In “The March of Folly,” Barbara Tuchman asked, “Why do holders of high office so often act contrary to the way reason points and enlightened self-interest suggests?” Her assessment of self-deception — “acting according [...]