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RANDY BARNETT: ?This is big. With the passage of the health care bill ? especially the way it was p?

By Glenn Reynolds

RANDY BARNETT: “This is big. With the passage of the health care bill – especially the way it was passed – the political landscape of the United States has changed, perhaps forever. And I am not referring to the inevitable growth of statism that has resulted from nationalized health care in Europe. I am referring to a clear demarcation between the parties that was not evident in the last election. If John McCain had been elected, we would have had something like this bill enacted last year in a bipartisan fashion – as was Social Security and Medicare. Such a bill would have been irreversible. Now the political consciousness of an enormous number Americans is entirely focused on government and the political class. There is a genuinely grassroots ‘liberty movement’ in this country that has not existed in my lifetime – perhaps not in a century or more. And they are not interested forming in a third party.If the Democratic Party could survive slavery, it should be able to survive the passage of this health care bill. But then again, until the Civil War, slavery was less unpopular in the United States than is this bill.”

On the other hand, reader John Steakley writes:

All this talk about backlash and Republican landslides is very premature. The Democrats just purchased 30,000,000 new votes. In November, the Democrat machine will drive through the low income neighborhoods in buses with loudspeakers warning people to get on board and vote against the evil Republicans promising to “steal” their “right” to free healthcare. And it just might work.

Well, that depends on what people do between now and then.

UPDATE: Reader Ken Alwes writes:

I’ve never been a big fan of the GOP, though I usually vote for their candidates. This morning, I dropped by the TN GOP office in Nashville, joined the party and volunteered to work for whichever candidate ultimately challenges Jim Cooper.

Well, if a lot of people do that sort of thing, then the GOP will do well.

Full post as published by Instapundit.com on March 22, 2010 (boomark / email).