Electing a New Speaker is Not a Win for Democrats

Posted by Jeff Carter
on December 22nd, 2012

If the Democrats think they are #winning by seeing Republicans fracture and possibly elect a new Speaker of the House to replace John Boehner, they are sadly mistaken. Boehner is being cursed on both sides of the aisle for failing to get a deal with Obama. However, cobbling together different stories this morning, cliff negotiation failure comes down to one line.

U.S. President Barack Obama meets with Speaker of the House John Boehner during the debt ceiling increase negotiations. The official White House caption says “President Barack Obama meets with Speaker of the House John Boehner(Official White House Photo by Pete Souza” (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

“You get nothing. I get that for free.” -President Barack Obama

The Republicans were doing all the negotiating. The blame for not achieving a deal falls squarely on the shoulders of Barack Obama. However, if we go back in time the Republicans have created the box they now sit in. Stupid strategy on their part since the inception of the tax cuts back in 2001.

If the Republicans replace Boehner, the new Speaker of the House isn’t going to be more moderate. It’s likely that he will be a strong fiscal conservative. That’s precisely the antithesis of the Democratic party and every one of its leaders. Personally, I’d be happy to see the Republicans forget all about social issues and concentrate on the business at hand. Our fiscal situation isn’t dire yet, but it will be soon enough.

There may be things you can blame Speaker Boehner for. But, it’s tough to negotiate with a stone wall. The only way is to jump over, or break it down.

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