What Does Obama's Re-election Mean for a Debt Deal? The question everyone has been asking in Washington this week, now that the election is past, is whether President Obama and Speaker Boehner really can find enough mutual trust (and enough maneuvering room inside their respective parties) to reach a major budget accord before the fiscal apocalypse at year's end. The answer, I think, is yes, for a couple of reasons. First, although neither Obama nor Boehner has wanted to talk much publicly about the compromises they were willing to make last time around, both men still badly want some kind of historic deal. And second, they already have a piece of paper that gets them a long way toward the framework for a budget deal, and their aides have actually built up some reserve of mutual trust. In some ways, too, both men are in stronger positions to sell a deal now than they were a year ago. I laid some of this out in more detail at the end of this 10,000-word cover story in April, which has gotten a lot of renewed attention in recent weeks. If you're trying to understand what all this budget stuff is about (and can spare a few hours to figure it out), you can consult the article. Or you can take the easy route and watch the video above.