House GOP weakened, divided
By JAKE SHERMAN | 1/5/12 5:10 PM EST Updated: 1/5/12 7:27 PM EST
House Republicans aren’t looking for another bloody battle on the payroll tax. They don’t think it’s worth stepping into the ring with President Barack Obama during his 2012 crusade against Congress.
But they are willing to fight each other — over policy, strategy and leadership.
A year to the day since Ohio’s John Boehner and 87 eager freshmen took Washington by storm, House Republicans are bruised from battle, irritated with each other and have lost trust in their leadership.
The president whose agenda they came to Washington to stop is vowing to spend the year scoring political points against Republicans now, and they don’t have much leverage against him.
Now, they’re trying to figure out how to revamp their agenda to find much needed political and policy victories in advance of the November election.
But the first few weeks of 2012 are brimming with issues that could trip up the GOP majority.
House Republicans first have to deal with a yearlong payroll tax extension, and they’re already promising to be flexible in the quest to get it out of the way. They’re almost certain to run into fiery conservative lawmakers still angry over the short term bill GOP leaders jammed through Congress before Christmas.
They’ll also have to contend with a growing deficit of trust between the rank and file and leadership — something that’s expected to come to a head at the party’s retreat in Baltimore later this month.
All told, the House Republicans are going into 2012 weaker and more divided than when they took control of the chamber a year ago.
Read much more: http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0112/71125.html#ixzz1ifthstE0
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