Democrats Try Divide and Conquer

July 15, 2011

Democrats Try Divide and Conquer

As negotiations over the debt ceiling remain at a seeming impasse, Alex Altman sees Democratic lawmakers in the House and Senate beginning to take a "divide and conquer" approach between House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) and Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-VA).

"By training the spotlight on Cantor, Democrats are hoping to open fissures between Boehner and Cantor, as well as create a juxtaposition -- the pragmatic President and the intractable Tea Party proxy -- that they believe will resonate with the public... Democrats may be hoping that battering Cantor will force Republicans leery of the damage a default would inflict to put a different leader at the helm of the negotiations. It's unclear whether the strategy will work. Several House Republican aides say that the conference remains unified in its three ironclad demands for the deal: no new taxes, spending cuts commensurate with the increase in the debt-limit, and caps and controls on future spending."

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Taegan D. Goddard is the founder of Political Wire, one of the earliest and most influential political web sites.

Goddard spent more than a decade as managing director and chief operating officer of a prominent investment firm in New York City. Previously, he was a policy adviser to a U.S. Senator and Governor.

Goddard is also co-author of You Won - Now What? (Scribner, 1998), a political management book hailed by prominent journalists and politicians from both parties. In addition, Goddard's essays on politics and public policy have appeared in dozens of newspapers across the country, including the Washington Post, USA Today, Boston Globe, San Francisco Chronicle, Chicago Tribune, Philadelphia Inquirer and Christian Science Monitor.

Goddard earned degrees from Vassar College and Harvard University. He lives in New York with his wife and three sons.

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July 15, 2011