Stupid: Boehner a Rubber Stamp for Pelosi?

Do the Democrats and this reporter for The Hill think this nonsense is going to sway voters?

It’s an attack ad that writes itself: The House Republican leader, Rep. John Boehner (Ohio), votes with liberal Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) a majority of the time.

The statistic seems impossible to believe, given the ferocity with which Boehner denounces Pelosi, the progressive champion of San Francisco elitism and favorite GOP villain.

But it’s true, according to an analysis by Democrats. Boehner has voted with the Democratic leadership 52 percent of the time in 2010. So has Rep. Mike Pence (Ind.), chairman of the Republican conference and former head of the conservative Republican Study Committee.

Rep. Eric Cantor (Va.), the House Republican whip, and Rep. Pete Sessions (Tex.), head of the GOP’s House campaign committee, are even cozier with Pelosi. They’ve voted with her 57 percent of the time.

And Rep. Michele Bachmann (Minn.), the conservative firebrand who has compared the Democratic agenda to socialism? She’s with Pelosi on 58 percent of House votes.

Flip it over and we can say Nancy Pelosi voted with Michele Bachman 58% of the time.

How childish this is. Most votes are procedural or symbolic. On the votes that actually matter are these Republicans lining up to vote with Pelosi? Of course not. But let's not let logic get in the way.

Doug Thornell, a spokesman for Rep. Chris Van Hollen, chairman of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee and assistant to the Speaker, shot back: "Gosh, I wonder what the Tea Party would think if they knew House Republican leaders vote with Speaker Pelosi most of the time. This analysis just shows how big of a joke the GOP argument against Democrats is."

Uh, Doug, Tea Partiers aren't as dumb as your base, but nice try. In fact, if anything it'll buttress their argument about there not being much difference between the parties (if some actually buy this silliness), one of the original driving forces behind the movement, though at this juncture the Tea Party is pretty solidly behind the GOP as a matter of political expedience. Further, do we see a single candidate in either party saying they're proud to vote with Nancy Pelosi? No, we don't. But we sure see plenty distancing themselves from her.

Funny, but it's Democrats screaming about the GOP being the "party of no," so are we to now say they're the "party of no, but only some of the time"?