[Usagi_yo]

Not even close. He's the HOUSE speaker, not the GOP speaker. There's already a house majority leader who one would think would be the cheerleader for GOP in the house. There is ample precedence for the Speaker of the House representing himself as at the least near neutral and not even voting unless his vote is needed. The Speaker of the House's job is to be 3rd in line for the presidency and to keep legislation flowing in the house first, representing his party 2nd.

[cherokee1]

First? Second? WTF? How about if the bleephole represents the American people just once?

[x]

Not even close. He's the HOUSE speaker, not the GOP speaker. There's already a house majority leader who one would think would be the cheerleader for GOP in the house. There is ample precedence for the Speaker of the House representing himself as at the least near neutral and not even voting unless his vote is needed. The Speaker of the House's job is to be 3rd in line for the presidency and to keep legislation flowing in the house first, representing his party 2nd.

I'm not sure the headline writer got what Boehner said quite right. The Speaker has to get a sense of where the party is and where the House is before taking action.

The Speaker can lead his party if the party is united. Gingrich did. Pelosi did. I guess Tip O'Neill and Sam Rayburn did in their own way.

It's hard for the Speaker to dictate to the party if the party's elected Representatives are divided or uncertain, though.