“Both Boehner and Obama are now called upon to be statesmen. The job of the statesmen is often that of telling friends and allies what they do not want to hear. Boehner has to remind his more rabid party members that they do not control the Senate and that they therefore have to compromise. The president must remind his more rabid followers that they got skunked in 2010 and the country wants less government and they have to compromise. The gap is relatively small. A government shutdown caused by so little would represent an egregious failure of statesmanship on both sides.”

Marc Landy is an expert on the American presidency, American politics and elections. He is co-author of the book Presidential Greatness.

Office: 617-552-4172; E-mail: marc.landy@bc.edu

NOTE TO MEDIA:

Contact information for additional Boston College faculty sources on a range of subjects is available at: http://www.bc.edu/offices/pubaf/journalist/experts.html

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Reid Oslin
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