From George E. Condon Jr. and Billy House,Attacks On Boehner Bring Skepticism From Both Sides, CongressDaily, September 14, 2010 (subscription required):
There is no precedent for the White House obsession with a minority leader little known outside southern Ohio, helping to explain skepticism among Democrats that the attacks will change the electoral dynamic. Indeed, the latest Society for Human Resource Management/National Journal Congressional Connection Poll, conducted with the Pew Research Center, showed that 60 percent of Americans could not identify the leader of the Republican Party. A mere 4 percent, within the survey's error margin, said Boehner was the leader of the GOP."Oh, he's a household word. The most hated man in America. I think they hate him more than they hate Osama bin Laden," joked Democratic consultant Jim Duffy, who is trying to elect several Democrats to the House.But even as he doubts there will be great benefit from the strategy and doesn't think independents will be moved at all, Duffy said targeting Boehner will not hurt. "They're trying to fire up the faithful," he said. "They are trying to find a bad guy. And I think they settled on him by a process of elimination and it does get the base fired up."
