GOP Strategist Bonjean: Republicans Won't Shut Down Government

One of the raging issues of the day is whether the newly ascendant House Republicans will risk a government shutdown to force President Barack Obama to cut spending. But they will avoid a shutdown, in the opinion of crack Republican strategist Ron Bonjean, former chief of staff to the Senate Republican Conference under Sen. Jon Kyl.

“Looking back to 1995, Speaker John Boehner understands the political dangers of allowing the government to shutdown,” Bonjean writes on Politico. Republicans took the heat for the closing of government functions, despite the fact that “President Clinton was complicit in letting the train run off the tracks,” Bonjean notes.

“Therefore, it is unlikely they will try to accidentally ‘boomerang’ themselves with this nuclear weapon once again,” he says. “Today, House Republicans know they can avoid a government shutdown and still be successful at making efforts to cut government spending.”