Steve Benen: House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) was asked at a press briefing this morning about President Obama’s series of speeches on the economy and the middle class. My jaw dropped a bit by the response.Boehner wishes he had approval numbers “as low as" President Obama’s, as the chart above demonstrates. I’m not sure why Boehner wants to pick this fight, but it’s one he can’t possibly win.
"I’m not going to speak to what the president is doing or why he’s doing it. If I had poll numbers as low as his, I’d probably be out doing the same thing, if I were him."Look, if Boehner wants to say his ideas are better than the president’s, fine. If the Speaker wants to make the case that the Republican vision of governance is superior to the Democratic vision, that’s his right. These are subjective questions.
But the one topic John Boehner should go out of his way not to talk about his poll numbers. If he had “poll numbers as low" as Obama’s? Seriously? If Boehner had poll numbers as high as the president’s he wouldn’t be such a hapless, accomplishment-free House Speaker.
Those poll numbers reflect an uncomfortable truth for Boehner — that his attempts to blame the economy on the President are failing. People are well aware that Washington Republicans are sabotaging economic recovery with obstructionism, while at the state level demand-attacking morons like Wisconsin’s own Scott Walker are doing as much damage as they can. The party is actively harming America for political gain.
"Obama is a relatively popular president; Congress is a national laughingstock," writes Benen. “The House Speaker sometimes struggles with current events, but if he thinks he enjoys a stronger public standing than Obama, he needs to have a long chat with his pollster."
