John Boehner Has His Hands Full

From Politico

Boehner works to keep up with base
By: Glenn Thrush
September 17, 2009 05:16 AM EST

House Minority Leader John Boehner spent much of last week trying to persuade a stubborn Rep. Joe Wilson to apologize to the House — telling associates he needed to “get to” Wilson before the weekend to elicit an apology.

But as the days dragged on, Boehner had to back off: Wilson’s spine was stiffened by $1.5 million in campaign contributions, the Democrats’ anti-Wilson rhetoric had become increasingly extreme, and the South Carolina Republican was rapidly accumulating support from the conference’s dominant right wing.

“At some point, he realized he had no choice but to get behind Wilson because that’s where his conference was going — and he was just so angry that the Democrats had pushed this thing so far,” said a GOP aide with knowledge of the situation.

Like a surfer riding the heavy waves before a hurricane, Boehner, a conservative with a penchant for compromise, has spent the past few months trying to harness the anger of the GOP base without allowing his conference to veer too far to the right.

But never were the strains of that balancing act more apparent than during the Wilson vote, as the Ohio Republican tried to juggle his commitment to bipartisan civility with his responsibility to a besieged member of his conference.

“It’s very hard these days to be a leader like John Boehner who tries to find the middle ground,” said former Connecticut Republican Rep. Chris Shays, one of the last Northeastern moderates, who was beaten by Democrat Jim Himes last year.

“He’s a conservative, but he’s less conservative than his base,” Shays added. “And he’s got to lead a party that has been so battered and beaten that it’s incredibly angry — angry at what’s going on in the country, angry at the way it’s being treated by the majority.”

On Tuesday, Boehner — who had worked with Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) to avoid an ugly confrontation over Wilson’s “resolution of disapproval” — took to the floor to accuse the Democrats of a “publicity stunt” in pushing for a Wilson reprimand. But many observers, including Republicans, noted that the leader, a wise-cracking chain smoker who sometimes finds it hard to mask his emotions, seemed just as disgusted with Wilson, making little eye contact with the man he was supposed to be defending.

Boehner spokesman Michael Steel said his boss has no conflict with Wilson — and that the House GOP’s complaints about President Barack Obama’s programs represent the concerns of the wider public and not just conservatives.


“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.

Like Gingrich, Boehner can’t afford to get on the wrong side of his base: After he helped shepherd through the $700 billion Wall Street bailout last fall, some conservatives privately groused that the minority leader was out of touch with the small-government wing of the party.

Boehner dismissed the criticism and was unchallenged in his bid to be reelected GOP leader, and he has moved forcefully to put his allies in positions of power — including the appointment of Rep. Pete Sessions (R-Texas) to head the National Republican Congressional Committee.

But now he faces new challenges as conservatives seek to assert their newfound power gained during the August recess.

“There is a certain portion of the conference that believes the worst about the president and needs to express that,” said a senior GOP House aide. “The key is to capture that angst in such a way that doesn’t turn off the rest of the country, meaning the moderates, the independents, the people who don’t share all of your principles.”

Until the GOP refutes or otherwise officially distances themselves from Rep. Bachmann, she will remain the face and shrill voice of the party.

Keep going.