Whether you liked Boehner or not, I think most people would agree that being the speaker of the House in this era would be a tough job. Those on the right didn't want Boehner to compromise with President Obama, Democrats control the White House keeping most bills from getting through and the Republican leadership in the Senate has its own issues.
Gridlock might be around for a while.
"I think we need John Boehner as speaker. I thought he did an outstanding job, but he was treated very bad by people in our party." - Peter King, R-N.Y.
I was on a special call in show with WHIO Radio News Director Brittany Otto last night and the calls kept coming for an hour.
Most of the callers listening on AM 1290 and News 95.7 were glad Boehner was leaving. They viewed him as not tough enough to stand up to Obama. People kept saying things like "We put him in office to stand up to Obama and he didn't." The political science major in me wanted to remind them that while they were right, people also put President Obama in office to stand up to the Republicans in Congress.
This era isn't the first time we've had divided government. Democrat Bill Clinton had to work with a Republican congress in the 90s and Ronald Reagan and George HW Bush had to work with Democratic majorities.
But with 24-hour news, constant social media, talk radio, etc. it's a different time to be speaker of the House.
Here's a look at some of the coverage of Boehner's resignation announcement. Tell us what you think. It will be interesting to see how the next speaker deals with the same political challenges.
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