A very smart speech by Speaker Boehner 
 
 By Ezra Klein 
 
 If you spent the afternoon watching C-SPAN, as I did, you heard applause. A lot of it. Over and over again. And when John Boehner took the podium to be sworn in as Speaker of the House of Representatives, it swelled back up, and stayed there. No one Republican member of Congress wants to be the first to stop applauding the new speaker. 
 
 Luckily, Boehner did it for them. “It’s still just me," he said with a smile. 
 
 Traditionally, politicians overpromise in these moments. If you look back to Nancy Pelosi's speech upon becoming speaker in 2007, or Newt Gingrich's speech upon becoming speaker in 1995, you'll see broad, ambitious, ideologically-charged agendas. Gingrich wanted "to find a way to truly replace the current welfare state with an opportunity society." Pelosi sought "a new America that declares our energy independence, promotes domestic sources of renewable energy, and combats climate change." 
 
 Boehner promised almost nothing at all. He certainly didn't set himself up as a foil to President Obama, or anoint himself leader of a new conservative moment in American politics. Rather, his speech had two themes: Humility, and comity. He called his chamber "the people's house," and said "we are carrying out their instructions." He spent a lot of time on the "scar tissue" that has built up under "some of the rituals that have come to characterize this institution under majorities Republican and Democratic alike." He promised a new era of openness and minority cooperation in the House. He emphasized his recognition that he held the gavel not because American liked him or his party, but because they were angry at the government and the Democrats who ran it. 
 
 It was, I think, as smart a speech as I've seen a politician give -- in part because it was savvy about what it didn't say, which is a rare virtue in Washington. Of course, the speech is the easy part. The rules Boehner is pushing through the House make it vastly easier to increase the deficit through tax cuts, an outcome that won't sit well with Boehner's repeated pledge to hold down the debt. Moreover, Republicans are already having to break their rules to pursue the repeal of health-care reform without paying for it -- a procedural offense in favor of a symbolic vote that, in addition to increasing the deficit, won't exactly usher in a new era of respect and esteem between the two parties. 
 
 That's to be expected, perhaps. Many speakers before Boehner have entered the House promising more openness and cooperation and given up on those promises when they began to conflict with more action. And Boehner himself has not always been able to "disagree without being disagreeable." It's when the going gets tough that speakers turn hard. 
 
 So we'll see. But thus far, Boehner's political instincts have been quite impressive. The White House may have a more able opponent in him than they thought. 
 
 Photo credit: Alex Brandon / AP. ||||| John Boehner, the incoming Speaker of the House, the most powerful Republican in Washington, and a man who in a matter of days will be second in line for the presidency, has twice had an opportunity to introduce himself to the American people. 
 
 And on both occasions, he cried – a lot. 
 
 There is a tradition of politicians crying in America and it often ends with getting beat at the polls. Already some of the incoming speaker's supporters are getting worried that the Ohio Republican's penchant for showing his emotions makes him look weak. 
 
 Others, however, have championed Boehner for his willingness to be real. 
 
 "This is not exactly the first impression you want to make to the American people," said Republican strategist Ed Rollins. "We've seen his sensitive side enough already. But a sensitive side isn't what the country wants to see in a strong leader. He's got to show strength and leadership and a willingness to stand up to the president. You never saw Pelosi crying" 
 
 On Sunday night in a lengthy "60 Minutes" interview, the Speaker-designate broke down twice, talking about his rise from humble beginnings as a janitor and again in talking about his hope for children. 
 
 "Family – kids -- I can't go to a school anymore. I used to go to a lot of schools. And you see all these little kids running around. Can't talk about it," he stammered. 
 
 Last month, on election night as returns came in and it was clear Republicans had won the House and Boehner would be speaker, he also cried. 
 
 "It's full-bore crying," said interviewer Leslie Stahl. "It's not just little tears and he does it a lot." 
 
 Some Democrats and women have suggested there is a double standard. When Republicans cry, they are "compassionate conservatives" but crying women and Democrats furthers the stereotype that they're weak. 
 
 Speaker Nancy Pelosi, the Democratic woman who Boehner will replace, has never cried in public. 
 
 "You know what? He is known to cry. He cries sometimes when we're having a debate on bills," Pelosi told the New York Times in November. "If I cry, it's about the personal loss of a friend or something like that. But when it comes to politics -- no, I don't cry. I would never think of crying about any loss of an office, because that's always a possibility, and if you're professional, then you deal with it professionally." 
 
 "For men, it is a sign of compassion. For women, it's a sign of weakness. It's the double standard that worries me," said Democratic strategist and ABC News consultant Donna Brazile. 
 
 Hillary Clinton cried briefly at a campaign stop in New Hampshire in 2008. She was criticized, by some, for manufacturing the tears as a way to appeal to women voters. 
 
 "Democrats always get a lot more criticism for crying," said Larry Sabato Jr., director of the University of Virginia's Center for Politics. "Democrats have an image of weakness among some – though I don't agree with that characterization. If Obama or Pelosi blubbered in public they would be made fun of constantly. But maybe Boehner will be made fun of." 
 
 "There's a point," Sabato said, "where it just starts to look weird." 
 
 George W. Bush teared slightly soon after 9/11, but never took any flack for it. 
 
 Perhaps the most famous politician to cry may not actually have cried at all. Ed Muskie, who ran for the Democratic presidential nomination in 1968, is widely considered to have lost all momentum, and his campaign collapsed, when he broke down in front of reporters while defending attacks made on his wife. Muskie claims that he never cried, but that snow had melted on his face.
– Incoming House speakers have a long tradition of overreaching in their opening speeches, writes Ezra Klein at the Washington Post. John Boehner took the opposite approach today with his themes of "humility and comity," and that's why Klein loved it. Boehner didn't gloat on behalf of himself or his party, and he didn't set himself up as the savior of conservatives or the "foil" to the White House. He even pledged to try to heal the "scar tissue" between the parties with more openness. "It was, I think, as smart a speech as I've seen a politician give—in part because it was savvy about what it didn't say, which is a rare virtue in Washington," writes Klein. Time will tell whether he can follow through, "but thus far, Boehner's political instincts have been quite impressive. The White House may have a more able opponent in him than they thought." Click here to read the full text of Boehner's speech.