It is difficult to imagine a better analysis of Boehner's accomplishments in sailing between Obama's Charybdis and the Tea Party's Scylla than Sean Trende's piece posted at Real Clear Politics.

Boehner was realistic in his being able to get things done with Obama in the White House.

Trende writes:

There are three clear examples where Boehner helped get Republicans far better deals than they could reasonably have expected. First, under Boehner, Republicans really have managed to apply the brakes to federal spending.

[Specifically] [m]ore impressive was the deal he brokered on the so-called “fiscal cliff” of 2012-2013. To recap: The Bush tax cuts were all set to expire, meaning that all citizens who paid federal income taxes were due for a substantial increase. President Obama wanted taxes increased on citizens earning more than $250,000 per year, while conservative Republicans wanted no increase whatsoever.

Negotiations reportedly opened with Boehner attempting to avoid an increase in the tax rates, and asking the president what he could get in return for an equivalent amount of revenue increases from other sources. The president responded: “You get nothing ... I get that for free.” 

Republicans had very little leverage in this transaction. The president had just won re-election, the Democrats had picked up seats in both houses of Congress, and Republicans seemed likely to catch the blame if everyone’s taxes went up. Yet, after lengthy negotiations, Republicans walked away with a (roughly) $450,000 cutoff for the tax increase. This was accomplished after a tough election, with control of just one house of Congress.

Finally, Boehner managed to walk a fine line on the immigration issue. While Mitch McConnell allowed a bill to pass the Senate with inflated majorities, Boehner managed to kill it. Again, this was in the face of substantial internal pressures in the party to pass such legislation.

After this analysis, Trende discusses what the House will face when they select a new speaker.  Can Tea Party conservatives rein in their unrealistic and fatalistic drive to show Obama a thing or two?

We shall see.  I hope they don't cost us the election in 2016, which promises to be chaotic, as they misread the American electorate.

James Arlandson's website is Live as Free People.