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ED ROGERS
White House staffer to Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush; chairman of BGR Group
From a political and policy perspective, Republicans won the debt standoff. This agreement is not a solution to our economic problems. It is a first down; the game hasn’t been won. But conservatives in Congress have changed the debate and shifted the political direction and momentum in America. And with the final votes looming, I hope the Republicans don’t snatch defeat from the jaws of victory.
House Speaker John Boehner is the biggest winner because he had the toughest job. Having the fragile, quick-tempered and uncompromising Tea Party members mostly on board required skill and patience that a Newt Gingrich or Tom DeLay probably could not have achieved.
Sen. Mitch McConnell is a big winner since he looked like the adult in the room. But he always does; McConnell is probably the only person in Washington who always has a plan. He is always thinking two or three moves ahead and anticipates what his opponents will do.
The hard left is the biggest loser. It is now on defense and on the wrong side of the big debate about government spending and the role of government. President Obama and his economic team looked terrible in the process, but the president could have lost even more. No one on the left is defending the president or this deal — in fact, the unhappiness among left-wing pundits underscores how well the Republicans did — but things could have been worse; no deal would have scarred the presidency and Obama would have received most of the blame for the economic consequences of a default. Sen. Harry Reid looked more like a president and Obama looked more like a back-bench legislator.
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