Will 2014 Free Boehner to Move to the Left and Dump the Tea Party?

It is now generally accepted that Republicans will keep the House in November and "win" the midterm by adding a handful of seats to their majority. If this counts as "winning," Nancy Pelosi must already be stocking up on the champagne.

The battle for the Senate has so dominated this midterm cycle that the House has become an afterthought. Republicans keep telling themselves that all that matters is getting Mitch McConnell back into the majority leader's seat, so a united GOP Congress can move to roll back the Obama agenda.

Senate control is the priority, but the House deserves far more attention than it's getting. John Boehner has his majority, but it is not often a governing (or governable) one. The speaker endlessly struggles to get to that magic number 218, often to his embarrassment and the detriment of good policy. (A favorite: the House's stubborn refusal to accept his 2012 tax-cliff deal, which set up President Obama for an even greater tax-hike victory). Every additional member Mr. Boehner adds to his majority means additional flexibility in the coming Obama fights. It's also a cushion against future losses.

And this is the year to do it. The party in the spring announced it was driving for 245 seats, up from 233, and described this as "ambitious." Really? Republicans were obviously never going to replicate anywhere near their 63-seat pickup of 2010.

from the WSJ