Among people who are passionate about politics, Democrats tend to think that their guys aren’t as good at Republicans when it comes to dealing across the aisle. Republicans think likewise, that their guys aren’t as savvy as the Dems. House Speaker John Boehner may well change the GOP’s self-perception, as a party that can bargain to the brink and win.

PHILIP SCOTT ANDREWS, NYT

— The GOP won $38.5 billion in spending cuts — in a town that had forgotten how to cut. President Obama himself noted that the deal represented “the largest annual spending cut in our history.”

— The math-resistant forces of the GOP, like Rep. Michele Bachmann, don’t like the deal and think that even though the Reeps only rule the House, Boehner should have cut a stronger deal. Thus it’s hard for the Dems to argue that the House GOP is ruled by its fringe.

— The final deal allows a vote on Planned Parenthood, without having social issues sink the party’s prime mission of deficit reduction.

— The final deal includes a vote on Obamacare that the left probably would prefer to skip.

— Obama looked feckless and the Dems clueless when he said that he would veto and most House Dems voted against a stopgap measure to ensure military spending and paychecks for U.S. troops.

Most important: The Republican party is now the serious party, and no longer the party that talked about small government while voting for bigger budgets. Rep. Paul Ryan’s plan — the subject of my Sunday column — has called for cuts in entitlement spending necessary to prevent a fiscal collapse of Greek magnitude. Boehner began his tenure eliminating earmarks and continues to call for the sorts of reforms needed to get America’s fiscal house in order. Under Boehner’s leadership, the GOP is tackling thorny difficult issues, which careerists generally have avoided.

As for the Dems, well, they have become — you guess it — The Party of No.