If Boehner has to give that gavel back, then he'll really be crying

If Boehner has to give that gavel back, then he'll really be crying

Yes, we know that Obama is Nixon, that the breakfast he had this morning is worse than Watergate, and that by the end of the summer he's going to be forced to resign, after which he will be forced to live in ignominy with William Jefferson Clinton, the last president to have been impeached by the Republican Party.

But in the meantime, let's enjoy the party, because as the latest ABC/Washington Post survey shows ... the GOP isn't enjoying the fruits of its scandal-exposing labors (RVs, 5/16-19, ±3.5 percent):



If the election for the U.S. House of Representatives were being held today, would you vote for (the Democratic candidate) or (the Republican candidate) in your congressional district? Democratic candidate: 48

Republican candidate: 40

Democrats enjoy a whopping 56-33 edge among moderates, and while they get just 20 percent of the conservative vote, that's more than double the 8 percent of the liberal vote obtained by Republicans. Republicans have a miniscule 1-point edge among independents—41 to 40—but in 2010, they carried independents by a whopping 56-37 margin.

Also, as Greg Sargent notes, the poll contains more evidence that conventional wisdom about gun politics is wrong: In both red and blue states, more voters say they they would vote against a candidate who opposed expanding background checks to gun shows and the internet than say they would vote against a candidate who supported expanded checks. A total of 35 percent say they'd rule out a candidate who was against expanding checks compared with 14 percent who say they'd rule out a candidate who is for such checks. That helps explain why Republicans have been so eager to have it both ways on the issue, voting against expanded checks while simultaneously claiming that they support them.