Edited For Clarity

I mentioned this yesterday, and today it got a whole lot worse for John Boehner. After finding out that his debt ceiling plan fell short of what he claimed it would do, he had to go back and retool. Since yesterday, Boehner’s camp has been saying there would be a vote today and this it would pass. They never really said they had the votes. Turns out they didn’t, and had to postpone the vote again today, saying it would come later tonight.

A parade of Republicans marched into Boehner’s and Eric Cantor’s offices today as if they had been called in by the principal. Yet for all this effort, by this evening there were no votes to be had. The vote has now been postponed to at least Friday, and there’s no sign there will be more votes then.

Boehner now must be fearing for his Speaker’s position. The last Speaker to last only one term was nearly 80 years ago. And it isn’t looking good for Boehner. Keep in mind, he was able to whip enough votes from his caucus to get TARP passed, albeit reluctant votes. And he can’t even get his caucus to pass this vote.

Rumors are coming from Capitol Hill that Eric Cantor may have a hand in this. Cantor is the guy who wanted to play hardball with the President but was later shut down. He has been talking things up with the Tea Party aligned folks, and he has more support from them than Boehner does. Cantor is also the likely beneficiary of a House fight for Speaker.

So, on one side of the aisle, the Dems are holding together pretty solidly, with nary a vote for Boehner’s plan. On the other side of the aisle, it may not matter, because Boehner doesn’t have enough votes from his own people, and the only way he passes anything is with Dem votes that he won’t get.

Are we seeing the Republican Party implode at the hands of the Tea Party? Maybe. Boehner tried to play politics to get a better deal. Now, he may have to play politics just to be relevant.

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