Did Boehner really win?

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Friday April 15, 2011 · 8:33 AM PDT

2011/04/15 · 08:33

Mixed reactions around the blogosphere about Boehner needing Democratic votes to pass the budget bill. Reaction from the left has been, effectively, "Yeah, so what? He still won."

Writing in WaPo, Jonathan Bernstein:

Yes, 59 Republicans deserted him on the final vote, meaning that Democratic votes were used to put the measure over the top. However, it’s not at all clear that he didn’t have the votes, if needed; after all, with a final vote of 260-167, Boehner could have lost over forty more votes and still managed to pass the thing. Boehner may very well have released many of the 59 dissenters, allowing them to vote No in the knowledge that he could get the bill passed without them. We’ll never know how many of them would have been available if push came to shove — so their defections don’t mean that Boehner is losing control.

Digby picked this up and expanded on it a bit, excoriating any of us for claiming victory:

Please, please spare me the gloating about how Boehner is the big loser in this budget stand off because the "Tea Party" freshmen all defected and he had to count on Democrats to pass the bill.

If Digby says it, I generally don't take exception to it. However, I came across another article this morning that sees it another way. More below the jump.

Writing for Reuters, Andy Sullivan and Susan Cornwell had this to say:

The defections raised questions about the ability of Republican House Speaker John Boehner and Obama, a Democrat, to keep their party members in line during the next round of showdowns on raising the $14.3 trillion debt limit and passing a budget for the 2012 fiscal year budget.
Boehner had been under pressure to show he could get the 218 votes he needed to pass the budget deal without Democratic support, which would have strengthened his hand in the coming negotiations. But he fell short.

"My guess is that he's not going to be sleeping all that well tonight," said Stan Collender, a budget analyst with Qorvis Communications in Washington.

The article asserts that there wasn't a clear winner. Lefties think Obama gave away too much from the start. Yet the fallout is that the teabaggers are livid over the CBO numbers, and if they're pissed, then Obama must have done something right. A good compromise leaves everyone mad.

I wonder how well Boehner slept? Anybody see bags under his eyes this morning?

Sorry, Digby. I respect you very much and read your blog every day. But I'm still going to gloat just a little. We haven't had much to gloat about lately.

Poll
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So, who won?

Boehner

Obama

Nobody

Pie

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So, who won?

Boehner

0%

0 votes

Obama

11 votes

Nobody

10 votes

Pie

5%

1 vote

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