Even before it is passed into law:
Transcript (aired Tuesday, 1/5/10):
STEELE: They’re going to get something.
(crosstalk)
CAVUTO: But once they have something that is the proverbial camel’s nose underneath the tent.
STEELE: It’s the nose under the tent, and then the charge of Mitch McConnell, and John Boehner, and myself, our governors around the country is we will work night and day to elect Congressmen and Senators to undo it, because this is not what America needs right now.
Who knows if Steele actually speaks for the GOP, but if so, he is boxing Republicans into a horrible position here. Once reform passes, there's three basic choices: repeal it, improve it, or declare mission accomplished. As we've learned in Massachusetts, there's not likely to be much appetite for either extreme. Rather than scrapping the reform bill ("repeal it") or doing nothing more to change health care ("mission accomplished"), most people will want to continue improving the system. There's no question that this reform bill isn't perfect and it leaves many things that must be fixed, but saying "repeal it" isn't a plan for improving reform -- it's a plan for doing nothing, and that's not what most people want.