Replacing Speaker Boehner
But face it. Boehner is no match for Obama on the national stage. He cannot press the economic arguments articulately. He does not have a compelling personality. Obama is running circles around Boehner with outrageous falsehoods, and Boehner cannot raise a peep to challenge him. Boehner has managed to allow Obama to turn the Bush middle class tax cuts, passed by a Republican majority Congress over 10 years ago, into the Obama middle class tax cuts, supposedly opposed by the House majority Republicans.
Reagan-era Democrat Speaker Tip O’Neill used to say Reagan’s budgets were dead on arrival. He used to counter Reagan proposals by saying they just could not get through the House. After the Reagan landslide reelection of 1984, O’Neill responded that the people had elected a Democrat House majority too, and they had as much right to pursue their policies in the House as Reagan had to pursue his policies as President. And O’Neill had a personality that was easily dismissive of questioners.
But from Boehner, nothing like any of that.
Blowback
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Yes, it would be lovely if we had our own version of Tip O’Neill. But conservatives don’t seem to like dealmakers and schmoozers. In the last 2 cycles we’ve emphasized ideological purity instead of charisma, politicking and negotiating skills (i.e., someone who went into a bad scenario and got more out of it for our side than he/she was expected to get, not someone who gave away the farm in order to be seen Doing Something). Maybe its time to rethink the goals.
alwaysfiredup on December 12, 2012 at 7:06 PM
Time for Sarah Palin. This would be a fantastic opportunity for her. She is not afraid to fire shots across the bow of the zero.
Mirimichi on December 12, 2012 at 7:18 PM
Yeahhhhh!
Blaise on December 12, 2012 at 7:24 PM
LOL. Barky is a Dog-Eating Retarded joke who shouldn’t be given any responsibility greater than pushing a mop aroudn (and he probably couldn’t do that correctly, either).
The Weeping Boner fails all on his own, without having anything to do witht Indonesian Imbecile.
ThePrimordialOrderedPair on December 12, 2012 at 7:26 PM
No point in reading beyond that first sentence if this is the false premise accepted by the author …
I second the Palin nomination!
ShainS on December 12, 2012 at 7:27 PM
Thirded
astonerii on December 12, 2012 at 7:30 PM
I [pick a number] this.
Bitter Clinger on December 12, 2012 at 7:34 PM
And Exhibit A as to the complete unseriousness of the writer.
KingGold on December 12, 2012 at 7:37 PM
It’s incredibly disheartening that no elected republican will challenge Boehner/McConnell for leadership.
All the principled conservatives are back benchers and in the end amount to nothing (see DeMint), because they never speak out.
commodore on December 12, 2012 at 7:42 PM
Mitt Romney for Speaker.
Impeach Obama and Biden.
Romney goes to White House.
News2Use on December 12, 2012 at 7:46 PM
Speaker Boehner is doing the best he can in an untenable situation. //
He only has the power of the purse, enough repubs to outvote the dems, evidence that the Senate is being deliberately obstructionist at every turn.
Had no problem telling his caucus to get their “asses in line” summer 2011 over legislation that is now BITING them in those same asses.
arnold ziffel on December 12, 2012 at 7:51 PM
Yeah, because that worked out so well with Newt Gingrich and the government shutdown.
The drawback to Boehner is that he’s a blubberer who will probably cave.
His lack of an easily vilified personality is probably his strongest point, not a weakness. 4/5ths of Americans have no idea who he is. Charisma is no asset when the entire media is looking to create The Face of The Enemy for sequestration. Certainly not when the GOP has just lost the referendum on this issue – the election – and a strong personality would just be The Sore Loser Standing In The Way Of the People.
HitNRun on December 12, 2012 at 7:55 PM
How you gonna get Palin in as Speaker of the House? Technically the Speaker does not have to be a member of the House but, really, practically, step by step, how you going to get her in?
And beyond getting Palin in, how are you going to get Boehner out?
dczombie on December 12, 2012 at 7:56 PM
He needs to go.
WisCon on December 12, 2012 at 8:03 PM
What was wrong with the governemnt shutdown under Gingrich? The GOP lost 2 seats in the House afterward and gained 2 in the Senate. It was a wash. If the dems are being criminal bastids who want to force a govenrment shut down, then let them shut the feral govenrment down. Only, this time, the workers don’t get paid for days they didn’t work.
ThePrimordialOrderedPair on December 12, 2012 at 8:21 PM
The Republicans have been such a failure at articulating their message it is truly astonishing.
The party that was birthed as an anti-slavery party today is thought of as the racist party.
The Republicans seem embarrassed by a past that they should be celebrating. The first blacks in congress were Republican. You’d think they would be proudly and passionately be defending their great and rich history! But they act ashamed by it. Republican leaders are embarrassed by Ronald Reagan… while the Democrats want you to think they love Reagan and Reagan was just like they are. And now.. Obama has even co-opted Abraham Lincoln. The first Republican President. I honestly believe that if Obama started saying Lincoln was a Democrat that Some GOP leaders would feel embarrassed to argue the point.
JellyToast on December 12, 2012 at 8:44 PM
Ditto. Wanna see heads explode? Make Palin the SOH and third in line to POTUS.
AH_C on December 12, 2012 at 8:54 PM
Obviously and unfortunately, for all practical purposes, neither of those two events is going to occur (although the latter seems to be gaining steam).
In our conservative fantasy/dream world:
(1) Boehner would be pressured and eventually forced to resign by several other Republican Congressional Leaders (as was attempted in 1997 to Newt Gingrich); and
(2) there’d be a new election in the House for the Speakership.
Palin would garner the support of smart Republicans who realize that she could help get each reelected in perpetuity … but more insidiously, she might get the support of the vast majority of Democrats who underestimate her and think that electing her would be a big mistake for the Republicans — believing that they’re handing the LSM a permanent, target-rich environment.
Oh well, one can only dream …
ShainS on December 12, 2012 at 9:24 PM