All it took was an inch — as the GOP is going the whole mile, and then some. I’m talking about the stalemate in getting Obama’s reform bill passed. The election of Scott Brown to fill the seat once held by the legendary health reform stalwart Ted Kennedy seems to be only the beginning of an effort by the GOP to take over the parameters of what “reform” really means at this point.

The WaPo has an interesting analysis into the Democrats’ missteps leading to where the party finds itself today: a wounded warrior with very little to show in the way of valor in upholding Obama’s original plans for an overhaul.

Looking back, Obama and his congressional allies failed to appreciate the depth of frustration with Washington – people’s desire for health care legislation that would respond to their anxieties, not the clamor of interest groups.

There’s more. Some GOP lawmakers are upping the anti-reform rhetoric with fiesty language meant to energize its base and incite debate for their benefit. Invoking states’ rights arguments, a VA congressman calls reform measures at the hands of Democrats “mobster mandates”, and such issues “cross the line” as far as he’s concerned.

Del. Robert G. Marshall (R-13th District) has filed the “Virginia Health Care Freedom Act” (HB 10), which would “protect an individual’s right and power to participate or decline to participate in a health care system or plan,” according to a summary of the bill.

Mobsters and missteps. February is getting off to a rollicking start for the party that was supposed to have had a bill on Obama’s desk by now.

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