For months President Obama has been reaching across the aisle in search of moderate GOP support of healthcare reform legislation, all for naught thus far.
We've been subject to the "Gang of Six."
We've been subject to astroturfing GOP protestors shouting our Democratic legislators down at town halls.
But have we found, at last, a GOP spokesman who favors many of the reforms we want to see enacted?
And is that spokesman Richard Nixon?
Check out today's column from PAUL KRUGMAN.
The following section was particularly iluminating:
As many people have pointed out, Nixon’s proposal for health care reform looks a lot like Democratic proposals today. In fact, in some ways it was stronger. Right now, Republicans are balking at the idea of requiring that large employers offer health insurance to their workers; Nixon proposed requiring that all employers, not just large companies, offer insurance.
Nixon also embraced tighter regulation of insurers, calling on states to "approve specific plans, oversee rates, ensure adequate disclosure, require an annual audit and take other appropriate measures." No illusions there about how the magic of the marketplace solves all problems.
Let's see Pat Buchanan counter how his great political benefactor was in favor of many of the same proposals Democrats now espouse in this healthcare reform debate.
Let's see some rump GOP Congressman try and debate his way out of Nixon's support for these policies.
Let's start to see our Democratic legislators get out there with the talking point: "What Democrats are proposing now is in line with what Nixon would have passed in the early 70s, and those ideas still make for good policy today."
Or to have a Democratic legislator say: "Kennedy could Nixon to get on board with these proposals, but we can't Olympia Snowe on board here?"
I know we'd have to do this with a clothespin fastened to our noses, but let's put the GOP on the defensive for once here. Before they trot out "Kennedy would have compromised on healthcare reform" let's trot out "If this was good enough for Nixon, then how come it isn't good enough for today's GOP?"
And hopefully, in this one case, Tricky Dick pulls one last trick - on the GOP.