From Erick Erickson at Red State:

Many Republicans thought that after the President overshadowed the GOP at their Baltimore retreat last month, going to Blair House yesterday would just be another PR disaster.
It was anything but.
The GOP won the day so convincingly that even the traditional media had to praise the party for talking issues.

For those who didn’t see this portion, which came in the afternoon session, Ryan launched a full on assult on the bill more or less talking about how the bill will greatly increase the deficit which is something the Dems have lied about time and time again. Additionally he hits on the fact that medicare is broke, how this bill will hurt seniors as well as future generations, and quoting a budget chairman who said this bill was a “ponzi scheme that would make Bernie Madoff proud”.

In regards to what Ryan had to say there the Weekly Standard had this to say:

Obama didn’t even bother questioning Ryan’s presentation. He changed the subject to Medicare Advantage. The expression on the president’s face as Ryan made his case was absolutely priceless. Simply put, he looked like someone who realizes he’s met his match.

Here’s Ryan from earlier in the day where he talks about the essential difference in philosophy between the Dems and Republicans as they go about trying to achieve health care reform.

John McCain also had a great day today really getting into it with Obama. McCain wanted to address issues in regards to the process and what went wrong there but Obama wasn’t having it telling him “the election is over”.

A.B. Stoddard from The Hill sums up the GOP’s preformance pretty well:

“I think we need to start out by acknowledging Republicans brought their ‘A Team.’ They had doctors knowledgeable about the system, they brought substance to the table, and they, I thought, expressed interest in the reform.  I thought in the lecture from Senator John McCain and on the issue of transparency, I thought today the Democrats were pretty much on their knees.”

All in all it was a great day exposure wise for Republicans. Was a lot accomplished? No, not at all. But we have to ask ourselves: Would the GOP have been able to put forth their proposals and let the American people hear them if we hadn’t done this? No not at all. If this had been done on the House or Senate floor or in some closed door meeting on Capitol Hill the GOP would not have recived much media coverage at all. It also proved to the American people the the GOP is not just the party of “NO”. Sometimes it is good to say no, especially at times like these we need to be saying no on things like spending etc., but in order to regain the trust of the American people we needed to show them our solutions which is what we did today. Today was a step abet a small one, but a step none this less and that is what we needed.

Cross-posted @ Roanoke On the Right

VA-9 (Rick Boucher-D)
Rating Change: Safe D to Likely D

When an incumbent member of Congress who has represented the same district for 28 years draws a challenger who does not even live in the district should he be worried? If the incumbent is Virginia Democrat Rick Boucher then yes. Boucher’s district is coal country, comprised of the entire southwestern tip of Virginia and bordered by West Virginia, Kentucky, Tennessee, and North Carolina. While Boucher voted against the health care bill, his vote for cap-and-trade is already causing him headaches. Adding to his pains, Virginia’s state House Majority Leader, Morgan Griffith, has all but announced he will challenge Boucher. Griffith is a top tier candidate and has been recruited by the NRCC, but he lives in the 6th District instead of the 9th. This could complicate his bid against the entrenched Boucher, although Griffith’s supporters point out that his home is only “feet” from the district’s border and redistricting may render the point moot after this year’s election. While Griffith’s bid would be legal, since congressmen in Virginia only have to live in the state and not in the district they represent, politics is perception and a Republican argument that Boucher is out of touch with his district could be weakened by a messenger who does not even live there. Still, Boucher will be in for one of the tougher fights of his decades-long career as Republicans put another entrenched Democrat on their target list. (emphasis mine)

It’s not going to be easy to take down Boucher, but based on the developments of last few days it looks like the GOP is ready to put up one hell of a fight. Should be fun.