Or maybe that's just John Boehner. No, I think it's the whole party. Look at this sequence of events, hilarious and inexcusable at the same time.
The office of House Minority Leader John Boehner (Ohio) issued a release Saturday morning that said, in part, "The president himself helped put to rest once and for all baseless claims by members of his own administration that Republicans are the 'party of no.' " Ultimately, the event may have been most beneficial for Obama, who badly needs a boostHe has emerged as the most polarizing first-year president in history. In that year, unemployment hit 10 percent, his health-care initiative failed to pass the Congress, his poll numbers eroded, independents deserted the Democrats in major statewide elections and some members of his party hit the panic button after Republican Scott Brown won the special Senate election in Massachusetts.
On Friday, however, Obama reminded his opponents of the singular power of the presidency, delivering a performance that easily eclipsed his State of the Union address. He was knowledgeable about GOP counterproposals. He was robust in his rebuttals without being peevish. He may not have won over his conservative critics, who snickered when he said he was not an ideologue, but he was able, repeatedly, to sound the call for bipartisanship and to challenge the opposition to help lower temperatures.
Ross Baker, a political science professor at Rutgers University, said the message Obama delivered in Baltimore was consistent with one of the broad themes of his presidential campaign and therefore likely to enhance his standing with the public. "If the polls are correct -- and they are certainly consistent -- that Americans want a cease-fire if not a full-fledged truce, the event boosted his stock as a peacemaker," he said.
So far, so good. Whew. We can move ahead now as a country that badly needs some positive action.
But no. There's always a Republican out there who's determined to make sure that health care is denied , infrastructure erodes, the lies continue, corporations stay in control, and people remain anxious and angry. Remember now. Those claims that the Republican party is the party of "no" are, um, "baseless." Uh huh. Watch this turnaround.
Then in the early evening, Boehner's office issued a release with the headline: "Rhetoric versus reality: President Obama repeats discredited talking points during dialogue with House GOP." ...WaPo
With one petulant press release, Boehner says "no" to the entire Baltimore meeting. He also avoids any fact check on statements made during the Pres-Gop meeting. The Republicans didn't emerge from that fact check with honors. Twenty-four hours after showing some signs of recovery, they have suffered a relapse.
Obama wins that round.
