The GOP is Officially Out of the Small Government Game

I enjoy these occasional reminders that the GOP is officially out of the small government game. The GOP is suddenly a champion of Medicare, a smaller version of one possible incarnation of Obama's healthcare package.

Possible explanations:

1) The GOP has always been at war with Eastasia I mean uh, always supported Medicare.

2) The GOP sees a way to pander to scared senior citizens and is eager to ignore its supposed principles to get votes.

I have no problem with maneuvering for votes, but come on guys - at least go through the motions of pretending to stand for some principles, like small government.