Republicans have had
serious problems capitalizing on their control of both houses of Congress, and the White House isn't above doing a little victory lap over that. So far, Republicans have spent weeks bashing their heads against Department of Homeland Security funding before caving on it, have passed a few things they know President Obama won't sign, and otherwise have struggled to do jack squat. And the White House feels good about its ability, so far, to set the debate:
“To the extent that Republicans on Capitol Hill are doing things, it is either putting out fires in their own camp or responding to incoming from President Obama,” White House press secretary Josh Earnest said in an interview.
“Most of the message of the Republican presidential candidates is a message that is a reaction or response to White House initiatives, or actions taken by the White House,” Earnest added.
A spokesman for House Speaker John Boehner responded to this notion in comically whiny fashion:
“What agenda? President Obama has been off joking with Jimmy Kimmel, ‘interviewing’ with a woman who eats cereal out of a bathtub and smiling for his selfie stick while Democrats are looking to block the few realistic items this White House has floated,” [Boehner spokesman Cory] Fritz said.
Oh noes! The president has been reaching out to voters in ways other than Fox News and
Meet the Press. He must not be saying anything meaningful, except for the part where he's used all of those opportunities to talk about policy while reaching audiences that may not be tuned into cable news all the livelong day.
Thing is, if Republicans had their act together even a little bit, they wouldn't be needing to snipe about how Obama was having important conversations about race and policing with YouTube stars or using humor to promote Obamacare enrollment. Because they'd be getting stuff done and defining the conversation themselves. Instead, they're consumed by infighting and finger-pointing at exactly the moment they thought they'd be running the show.