Obama will thus be the conservative in 2012, in the truest sense of that word. He is the candidate defending the modestly redistributive and regulatory government the country has relied on since the New Deal, and that neither Ronald Reagan nor George W. Bush dismantled. The rhetoric of the 2012 Republicans suggests they want to go far beyond where Reagan or Bush ever went. And here’s the irony: By raising the stakes of 2012 so high, Republicans will be playing into Obama’s hands. The GOP might well win a referendum on the state of the economy. But if this is instead a larger-scale referendum on whether government should be “inconsequential,” Republicans will find the consequences to be very disappointing. I’m convinced that Rush’s New Castrati was modeled on E.J Dionne. Man, this guy is an idiot. The fact is, at this point, the GOP seems to be headed towards nominating Romney, a fairly moderate Republican, who isn't nearly as ambitious in his goals as the author attempts to impute to the GOP. But then again, Mr Castrati never had an original thought.