Speaker John Boehner giving Majority Leader Eric Cantor the evil eye (Larry Downing/Reuters)
If there's one good thing the debacle of the payroll tax cut extension has done, it's the emergence of a new, and long overdue, traditional media narrative:
Republicans in disarray.
Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) and Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.) are being prodded by their House GOP colleagues to work through their battle-scarred relationship.
Republican lawmakers said they are frustrated with the perceived tension between the Speaker and his top lieutenant, especially heading into an election year that will bring a fierce battle with the Democrats for control of the House.
The stinging payroll-tax defeat has left many in the House GOP exasperated, with some publicly and privately questioning their leaders. A GOP insider said the tensions between Boehner and Cantor loyalists will reverberate into next year, and that the House Republican Conference could be in utter disarray in January and February.
Gee, ya think? My heart bleeds for them. But note that this new-found concern in the GOP caucus has only arisen after they lost a battle. The divisions have been there for two years, it's just now that Democrats actually exploited them. More of that, please.