The Rise of the Right

«There are two great health-care crises in America—one in-volving coverage and the other cost. The Obama plan appears likely to tackle the first but not the second. This is bad economics but also bad politics: the crisis of cost affects 85 percent of Americans, while the crisis of coverage affects about 15 percent. Obama's message to the country appears to be "We have a dysfunctional health-care system with out-of-control costs, and let's add 45 million people to it."

(...)That might please the party's base but it will dismay independents. Were costs to rocket over the next few years, the Democrats will have squandered a reputation for economic competence that was hard won.

When Clinton and Blair moved their parties to the center in the 1990s, conservatives were initially paralyzed, then responded by shifting even farther right. (They had to distinguish themselves from the opposition.) In Europe the left has similarly been paralyzed or drifted toward radicalism. Things are still in flux in America. But over the next few years, were the Republican Party to move decisively to the center, Obama would face the most serious challenge of his presidency.»

Fareed Zakaria, Newsweek, 07-Nov-2009