B.O.Obama, the US president, and Republican John
It is not pronounced 'Boner!'Boehner,
... the occasionally weepy leader of House Republicans...
the speaker of the House of Representatives, have teamed up in a golf match to try to build a friendlier climate for troubled talks on the US debt and deficits.
In a game won on the 18th hole, Obama, a Democrat, and Boehner beat
Joe Foreign Policy Whiz KidBiden,
The former Senator-for-Life from Delaware, an example of the kind of top-notch Washington intellect to be found in the World's Greatest Deliberative Body...
the vice-president, and Ohio Republican Governor John Kasich on a course at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland, just outside Washington.
The four hit the links on Saturday as Democrats and Republicans were at odds over ways to cut the US budget by trillions and to raise the $14.3tn ceiling on the nation's debt.
Since May, Biden has been leading talks with a group of politicians. Without a deal to allow the nation to issue more debt, the treasury department has warned that the government will begin defaulting on obligations on August 2.
Kasich, a former congressman, is an expert on federal financial matters and a friend of Boehner.
Many experts believe any debt deal will require Obama and Boehner to step in. Their personal relationship could make a difference in the dynamics of the negotiations.
Breakthrough unlikely
Before the golf game, aides to both Obama and Boehner played down the prospects of a breakthrough in the debt talks and said tough decisions on the budget would be left to politicians.
But they left open the possibility that policy issues such as the debt would come up in the conversation.
US presidents have played golf with friends and foes for years. Lyndon Johnson rounded up votes for the 1965 Civil Rights Act on the golf course, while President Bill Clinton often used the game to negotiate with allies and opponents.
Julian Zelizer, a professor at Princeton University, said both Boehner and Obama needed to appear to be trying to reach a solution on the debt ceiling but that Saturday's game would probably yield only limited progress in improving Washington's politically fractious climate.
"Both parties are really stuck in," he said. "It's hard to overcome all the forces that make partisanship so strong on Capitol Hill. It's hard for a golf outing to overcome that."