Scarborough assessed the situation:

“I’m stunned that the President is going to deliver to his opposition total and complete victory. I would not do it if I were sitting in that chair. . . . Unless you’re willing to take your opponents to the wall, you’re going to lose these fights more often than not.”

And The Daily Beast’s Tina Brown agreed, saying “this is a trifecta of success for the Tea Party and whichever way you spin it he was crushed, so then he’s going to go out on the road for six months basically as a loser.”