>>>
the midterm showdown now less than two months away. the most heated talk on the campaign trail is between the
white house
and the republican who could become the next
speaker of the house
, congressman
john boehner
.
savannah guthrie
at the
white house
with details.
>> reporter:
good morning to you. that war of words escalated over the weekend with the
white house
spokesman
robert gibbs
and congressman
boehner
trading barbs on twitter. the
white house
has looked to have a debate with republicans and in
john boehner
they think they have a good target. the president spent a somber weekend marking the anniversary of 9/11. this week, it will be back to politics as his party tries to hang on to its power with the crucial
midterm elections
now lest than two months away. on sunday, his senior adviser came out swinging, targeting
john boehner
, the man poised to become speaker if republicans win control of the house.
>>
he wants to cancel the obama
tax cuts
that were part of the recovery act for the
middle class
and raise taxes on 110 million families.
>> reporter:
the
white house
has made a calculated decision to go after
boehner
trying to make the ten-term ohio congressman the new face of the
republican party
. after "the new york times" published a story sunday alleging
boehner
is cozy with lobbyists, press secretary
robert gibbs
posted about it on twitter four times, even taking a shot at
boehner
's trademark tan. on wednesday, the president invoked the congressman's name eight times in a speech in cleveland.
>>
mr.
boehner
, mr.
boehner
, mr.
boehner
, mr.
boehner
, mr.
boehner
, mr.
boehner
.
>> reporter:
the very place
boehner
had given a speech two weeks before slamming the president's economic plans.
>>
there were no new ideas. there was just the same philosophy we had already tried during the decade they were in power.
>>
we have offered him new ideas for the last 20 months. and speaking of new, i wonder what's new about more stimulus spending, more taxes and more uncertainty for american small businesses.
>> reporter:
elected in
1990
,
boehner
has become one of the most outspoken members of the
republican party
. but outside washington he's still relatively unknown. the
white house
is looking to change that.
>>
so what the
white house
is trying to do here is put a face on what has been a somewhat abstract argument. by elevating
boehner
you give him more visibility and put him in a more central role on the stage.
>> reporter:
congress comes back this weekend. a key issue is whether to extend the
bush tax cuts
. the president wants to extend them, make them permanent for the
middle class
but not the
wealthiest americans
. republicans including congressman
boehner
would like to see them extended for everyone including the
wealthiest americans
. but he did seem to open a little wiggle room this weekend saying he could support a
tax cut
just for the
middle class
if that's the best deal he
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