Appearing on Wednesday's Morning Joe, Washington Post associate editor Bob
Woodward dismissed the significance of the accession of Rep. John Boehner to the
post of Speaker of the House of Representatives, saying that President Obama's
inauguration dwarfed Boehner's.
Politico's Mike Allen had reported that
Capitol Hill had "the air of a Presidential Inauguration" Wednesday with a new
Speaker of the House and 87 new Republican congressmen coming in. A few minutes
later, Woodward tempered Allen's enthusiasm.
"I think Mike Allen's one of
the best in the business, but to compare the Boehner coming to the Speakership
with the Presidential Inaugural - four busloads, Mike? I mean, for Obama, for
any president - c'mon, they had hundreds of busloads."
Allen was
referring to the atmosphere and not necessarily to the numbers of attendees, but
that didn't resonate with Woodward, who compared numbers of attendees of a
Speaker's induction with that of a presidential inauguration.
"This is
big!" Joe Scarborough protested. "It too will pass," replied Woodward.
Of
course, the same could be said for Obama and the near-messianic expectations the
media and the left projected on him.
A transcript of the segment, which
aired on January 5 at 8:24 a.m. EDT, is as follows:
MIKE ALLEN: Well this morning, up on Capitol Hill, already there's the air of a Presidential Inauguration. The new members are having receptions, they have family in last night, soon-to-be Speaker Boehner - four busloads of Boehner friend and family have come in from the Ohio-8...
(...)
BOB WOODWARD: I think Mike Allen's one of the best in the business, but to compare the Boehner coming to the Speakership with the Presidential Inaugural - four busloads, Mike? I mean, for Obama, for any president, c'mon, they had hundreds of busloads.
JOE SCARBOROUGH: This is big! This is big! (Unintelligible)
WOODWARD: It too will pass.