That seems like a funny way to look at it to me. Nothing they did would have gotten any Republican votes, but what would have been lost by including tort reform? It would have made the Republican case against the bill almost toothless. The way it is, they left the Republicans with some good ammunition.

               It's easy to blame the rise in malpractice insurance on the lack of tort reform. It makes sense to me. Defensive medicine is also easy to blame on the lack of tort reform. These arguments will make very good sense to voters in the fall. Trying to convince them otherwise would be an uphill battle in the extreme.