Boehner Doesn’t Seem To Get It

by Dan Riehl | September 17, 2009 2:26 pm

This is a far more troubling item than it first appears to be. And it doesn’t look good from the start. The first thing Boehner does is mention that Independents out number the base in their concerns over Obama. That’s a bit of a tell as to which way he is leaning. But the second issue is far worse.

While I’ve no problem with his staying clear of some of the truly fringe stuff like the doomed birther movement, that he can’t appreciate creeping socialism is rather troubling, indeed. And he: seems to feed into the notion that the “base” is mostly comprised of the more extreme and unhinged elements of it.

It’s hard to conclude anything other than Boehner simply doesn’t get it at all. This is a genuinely troubling read.

John Boehner struggles to keep up with base[1]

“I would point out that the greatest anxiety about the president’s policies tends to come from independents,” he said.

Long before the tea parties or Wilson’s outburst, Boehner and Minority Whip Eric Cantor (R-Va.) had struggled to moderate the rhetorical excesses of House conservatives hammering away on Obama’s birth certificate, decrying the creation of “death panels” and ferreting out signs of creeping socialism.

Sources say they have been especially wary of the possible damage inflicted on the party’s reputation by bomb-throwing Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.), who last fall called for an investigation into whether members of Congress are “pro-America or anti-America.”

Still, Boehner has largely avoided antagonizing the base on these hot-button issues – steering clear of using the words “death panel” – while criticizing Democrats for involving the government in end-of-life decisions. He’s been particularly careful to avoid the fate of former Speaker Newt Gingrich (R-Ga.), who found himself publicly espousing positions that didn’t have widespread support in his own conference.

Cross-posted at Riehl World View[2]

Endnotes:
  1. John Boehner struggles to keep up with base: http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0909/27254_Page2.html
  2. Riehl World View: http://www.riehlworldview.com/

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