'World News' Political Insights: Democrats Build up Boehner to Target GOP

WASHINGTON, Sept. 12, 2010— -- Meet John Boehner. And say goodbye to the "party of no."

Democrats are launching the final phase of the congressional campaign season by building up the would-be House speaker, House Minority Leader John Boehner, in an attempt to tear Republicans down.

It's a strategy that gives them the chance to highlight the policy differences between Democrats and Republicans, in a campaign Democrats have long said they need to be about a choice of policy directions, rather than a referendum on President Obama's agenda.

But elevating a nemesis can have unexpected consequences, and engaging Boehner directly -- thus giving more attention to ideas put forward by Republicans -- could rob Democrats of the ability to make the case that the president and others have been building for months: that Republicans stand only for saying "no" to Democratic initiatives.

The Boehner-as-bogeyman strategy is broadly reminiscent of former President Bill Clinton's direct engagement with Newt Gingrich in his battles with Republicans in the 1990s -- fights that engaged a considerably higher-profile GOP leader than Boehner.

The president sought to draw contrasts on the economy last Monday by referencing "the man who thinks he's going to be speaker;" by Wednesday, Obama mentioned "Mr. Boehner" eight times in a major address on job creation. The Democratic National Committee is also targeting Boehner this week, in a new cable TV ad.

The tactic gives Democrats an opening to highlight some of the more controversial statements and positions of Boehner, R-Ohio, and members of his caucus. They point out that Boehner has said he'd repeal the health care law along with financial regulatory reform, and has said he'd cut federal spending to 2008 levels, without specifying which programs would face the budget ax.

But taking on Boehner builds up a lawmaker who remains little-known to much of the public. Republicans who have long faced the reality of not having central figures in their efforts to oppose the president now have one, as they seek to make a case to the public to be trusted with control of Congress.