Obama doesn’t blink

In the latter Obama years he finally grew a spine and adamantly refused to negotiate with the GOP over the Debt Ceiling and the radicals inevitably caved every single time. This lesson was learned from the 2011 Debt Ceiling Showdown where the Boehner House with some help from Cantor put the full faith and credit of the American Economy on the line in order to extract concessions from Obama. In other words extortion. Obama eventually did a horrible job prosecuting his case and from the start was obsessed with a Grand Bargain fairy tale that would have gutted Entitlement benefits. Considering that Boehner didn’t even have the support of his Caucus, it is rather dubious whether an agreement would have held but my question is 2 parts:

1) how would a successful agreement have affected the 2012 election? Obama was able to effectively caricature Romney as a venture capital vampire laying off workers left and right while Obama was the defender of the Social Safety Net. How effective would they be in tarring Obama?

2) Let’s say Obama takes on a no negotiation stance from the beginning. Will Boehner cave the closer it gets to Doomsday. And if neither side blinks, what would the Economic effects be and who gets the blame?
 
To be honest, my first reaction to the thread title was a TL where Obama was literally incapable of blinking his eyes.
I guess that would've proven his true nature as a reptilian agent of the New World Order cabal.
 
It's funny. I've read elsewhere on the internet that the reason Obama could never grasp that the Republicans would rather burn down the country than give him a win is that all his relationships have been healthy and sane. He's never had the 'crazy girlfriend,' that doesn't care about anything but winning.

I'm honestly not sure if the Republicans would blink, but it happen, I would be highly surprised if US cable news didn't blame #bothsides and complain about "why won't Obama lead?"

This is of course, my biased opinions as a lefty Englishman interested in US politics and cable news.
 
Does Boehner cave if Obama shows from the beginning he will not negotiate? If he telegraphs quite clearly he won't, does Obama go with the nuclear option and mint a trillion dollar coin? What would be the effect if he does? What if he realizes the ridiculousness of the idea but still decides he won't be held for ransom? Who gets blamed if the debt ceiling is breached?
 
A mockup of the trillion dollar coin

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Does Boehner cave if Obama shows from the beginning he will not negotiate? If he telegraphs quite clearly he won't, does Obama go with the nuclear option and mint a trillion dollar coin? What would be the effect if he does? What if he realizes the ridiculousness of the idea but still decides he won't be held for ransom? Who gets blamed if the debt ceiling is breached?

There are two main possibilities. First: Obama looks the hero by overcoming GOP obstruction and bringing the US back from the brink of default. Boehner & friends are humiliated and the Democrats gain more seats in the 2012 House elections. Second: Obama is decried as a tyrant who will bankrupt the country and he is defeated in 2012. In order for this to work on Obama's part, he would first need to take the fight to the GOP by traveling across the country and aggressively portraying the Republican leadership as reckless, dangerous, and extremist for putting the country and the economy at stake by playing war games with the national debt. Without public opinion on his side, Obama's chances of success are minimal.
 
As I recall public opinion was on his side, his base was deeply skeptical about a Grand Bargain Deal as was Pelosi. Who knows if a deal with Boehner had even been struck whether Pelosi or the Freedom Caucus kills it first. IMO such a deal had the support of only the Beltway Pundits who love to promote that Bipartisan Fantasy when they are not playing the False Equivalency of blame both sides. There were several moments a shrewd and strategic Dem Leadership could have capitalized on GOP radical obstruction, this was one, the government shutdown was another. Considering Obama’s Approval dropped massively after this sorry spectacle, I don’t see how inaction would have made things any worst.
 
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