Thanks to an outpouring of activism and some last minute defections, the 7 year long Republican quest to repeal Obamacare is dead - maybe even for good.

And with it should die the idea that the modern Republican Party was ever a serious political party.

Are Republicans even capable at this point of governing the country?

Thanks to some high profile defections from Lisa Murkowski, Susan Collins and John McCain, the Senate rejected a so-called "skinny repeal" of Obamacare 51 to 49 in the early hours of Friday morning.

That bill would have done away with Obamacare's individual mandate, repealed its employer mandate, and defunded Planned Parenthood.

It would also have eliminated a tax on medical device manufacturers that lobbyists have been all over the GOP about.

According to the CBO, the so-called skinny repeal bill would have resulted in 16 million people losing their health insurance right away, and caused premiums to rise 20 percent next year.

So shouldn't this permanently kill the idea of the Republican Party as a serious political party?

They've been hijacked by the Koch brothers and the oligarchs and it's rendered them incapable of governing the country.