Karl Rove: Boehner's Surprising Success

[ProSense]

Boehner's Surprising Success

Time and again the House speaker has out-maneuvered the president.

By KARL ROVE

The politician who has done more than any other to set the national agenda this year will soon return to Washington. It is not President Barack Obama. It's House Speaker John Boehner.

After his annual August bus tour to help re-elect House Republicans, Mr. Boehner will spend a short vacation next week at his house in West Chester, Ohio, where he'll relax by cutting his lawn with something not often seen on Martha's Vineyard: a Toro push mower.

It's been a remarkable run for Mr. Boehner. It began even before he became speaker, during last December's lame-duck session, when outnumbered House Republicans outmaneuvered Democrats and Mr. Obama on taxes.

Mr. Boehner won by shifting the debate from whether wealthier Americans should pay their "fair share" to whether it is wise to raise taxes amid high joblessness and sluggish growth. It worked. Mr. Obama started by calling for higher taxes. He ended by signing a two-year extension of all the Bush tax cuts.

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The GOP is full of teh win(d)!!!!

[gateley]

1. A Toro push mower in one hand, a jug of merlot in the other. nt

[Proud Liberal Dem]

2. They might have won a battle or two (but not really when you get down to the fine details)

but, as you point out, they don't seem to be winning over many (any?) people to their side. I predict that the Republican Tea Party will ruin the GOP's chance for victory next year because they'll insist on picking the craziest candidate and the voters will also send many of the freshman Tea Party-backed members back home- at which time the influence the Tea Party will have finally run its course. If we're lucky, we won't have to worry about hearing anything more from Palin either as her 2+ years of infamy seem to (finally) be running their course. We can only hope to be so lucky, right?

[ProSense]

5. Yup. The teabaggers are

being marginalized.

Tea Party's Bark Proving Worse Than Its Bite in 2012

The decision by conservative Rep. Jason Chaffetz, R-Utah, not to challenge Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, for his Senate seat was a major blow to tea party activists, who viewed the state as an ideal place to plant their flag for 2012. Giving one of the longest-serving senators a real scare would have sent a message to establishment Republicans: compromise at your own risk.

Instead, Chaffetz’s decision to stay in the House is just the latest political obstacle that the movement has faced as it tries to shape the Congress to its liking.

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For conservative activists, Chaffetz’s decision illuminates a political map shaping up to be far less inviting in 2012 than 2010, when they won an array of high-profile Republican primary battles – and elected outspoken conservatives like Rand Paul in Kentucky and Mike Lee in Utah to the Senate, in addition to dozens of like-minded members in the House.

The biggest battles for movement conservatives are looking decidedly tougher. Both FreedomWorks and Club for Growth remain committed to defeating Hatch in 2012, but are having trouble identifying a challenger who matches Chaffetz’s tea party credentials with a political background to boot. Chaffetz would have united conservative opposition against Hatch and, as a congressman, would have had a much stronger fundraising base than whoever takes his place.

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[NEOBuckeye]

3. As usual, Rove, you are full of shit n/t

[AtomicKitten]

4. Hey Boner, where are the goddamn jobs?