On January 24, House Speaker John Boehner told the press that negotiating with President Obama “was like dealing with someone who has never negotiated with anyone before.”  Unfortunately for his party and his constituents, Boehner is the one who is out of his league, spoiled by years of cordially trading favors with his buddies across the aisle.

The President, drawing upon the best of the Mayor Daley/Saul Alinsky school of ‘negotiation,’ knows the art of the colossal demand followed by the teeny-weeny give-back; if you doubt this, watch for the artful way in which he will attempt to placate Catholics and Republicans while mostly winning the fight he has picked with them on the subject of the birth-control mandate.  My heart is with Boehner; my money is on the prez.