| GOP risks defections: If Boehner and Republican Senate leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) don’t have a coherent strategy, they risk a whole bunch of defections, especially in the Senate. In fact, some GOP senators are already acting on their own. A few were down at the White House yesterday -- Saxby Chambliss (R-GA) and even Tea Party Sen. Ron Johnson (R-WI), for example, meeting with White House Chief of Staff Denis McDonough, looking for some way out, some compromise. But even if the White House can forge a consensus with enough Republican senators to get something bipartisan passed, it’s unclear whether Boehner can deliver a similar compromise. It’s clear no one wants a government shutdown (other than Democratic strategists for 2014 who are convinced it will destroy the House’s GOP majority). But there’s a chance, thanks to inertia, fear of conservative criticism, that suddenly there isn’t a way out. The White House believes it has the upper hand in all these negotiations, it sees the lack of a cohesive GOP message as an opportunity to divide and conquer, er, compromise. This also means the White House is not interested in caving the way some Democrats believe they did back in 2010, 2011, or even 2012. The White House believes it has the higher ground and, supposedly, a stiffer spine. The fall is going to be a wild ride. |
