At his press conference on Monday, President Obama made clear that his frustration with House Republicans' intransigence in negotiations to raise the federal borrowing limit did not extend to their leader. "I think Speaker Boehner has been very sincere about trying to do something big," Obama said, one of several compliments in an extended embrace of his negotiating partner. "The politics that swept him into the speakership were good for a midterm election; they're tough for governing."
Tough indeed. And a death hug from a polarizing Democratic President doesn't make the task easier for Boehner. From the start of his speakership, Boehner has been forced to contend not just with a fractious band of freshmen who would rather risk economic catastrophe than give ideological ground, but also with a top lieutenant positioning himself as Boehner's purist foil. While Obama may respect Boehner's forthrightness, recent twists in the plot of debt ceiling negotiations suggest that if he wants to convince hard-line House conservatives not to jeopardize the nation's economy, he may have been negotiating with the wrong Republican.
During the high-stakes summit at the White House on Sunday evening, Eric Cantor was the primary voice speaking on behalf of Republicans interests, according to several accounts of the meeting. A senior Democratic aide briefed on Monday's talks told TIME that Cantor again "dominated" much of the negotiations on the Republican side, while Boehner "hardly spoke."
Cantor's stated resistance to a grand bargain freighted with revenue increases - and the perception that his position reflected the pulse of the GOP conference - likely influenced Boehner's decision to scuttle his pursuit of a "big deal" with Obama. Weeks earlier, Cantor's abandonment of the Biden-led negotiations were the death knell for those talks. Speculation about palace intrigue is a Washington tradition, but the rumored frost between the top two Republicans in the House could have significant impact on whether the two parties can craft an agreement to raise the debt-limit by August 2. That's particularly true if personal ambition leads either lawmaker to elevate political calculations over policy imperatives.
http://news.yahoo.com/gops-hardliner-eric-cantor-thwarted-obama-boehner-debt-081407212.html
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