David Frum, former speech writer to George W. Bush, said that in the healthcare debate, the Republican Party chose to "the most radical voices in the party." Watch:

The Republican Party not only chose to listen to it's most radical voices, it's captive to them. The Republican Party rejected moderation and compromise in favor of a hard right, obstruct at all costs agenda advanced by their radical wing. Frum:

I’ve been on a soapbox for months now about the harm that our overheated talk is doing to us. Yes it mobilizes supporters – but by mobilizing them with hysterical accusations and pseudo-information, overheated talk has made it impossible for representatives to represent and elected leaders to lead. The real leaders are on TV and radio, and they have very different imperatives from people in government. Talk radio thrives on confrontation and recrimination. When Rush Limbaugh said that he wanted President Obama to fail, he was intelligently explaining his own interests. What he omitted to say – but what is equally true – is that he also wants Republicans to fail. If Republicans succeed – if they govern successfully in office and negotiate attractive compromises out of office – Rush’s listeners get less angry. And if they are less angry, they listen to the radio less, and hear fewer ads for Sleepnumber beds.

Frum acknowledges that much of the right wing critique against healthcare was chock full of inaccuracies, innuendo and outright fearmongering. The Republicans chose their radical path. And, it led to their Waterloo.