John Boehner: The Second Of 12 Kids From Ohio

... who is Barack Obama's elitist target.

This is bizarre. John Boehner, elitist? How many elitists do you know whose first job was janitor so he could pay for college?

by Toby Harnden - September 17th, 2010 - London Telegraph

... Mr Boehner's life story is the type of classic up-by-the-bootstraps tale of the American Dream that can put a tear in a voter's eye. As his story becomes better known, the Democrats could even be drawing favourable attention upon him... The alleged elitist country club Republican is an Ohio Congressman who grew up in near poverty.

His sister Lynda Meineke, who is 51, is a waitress and bar tender at Andy's Cafe in Carthage, Ohio, a family business that was founded by their grandfather Andy Boehner in 1938. As a child, one of Mr Boehner's jobs was to mop the floor.

Perhaps that is why he was not ashamed to work as a janitor when it was the best job he could find while going to college. The more I learn about John Boehner, the more I like him. In one regard he reminds me of Ronald Reagan. People who know him all like him. He fits in well with any group of guys who hang around talking sports. Like most men he is competitive. He plays a mean round of golf, rumored to have an 8 handicap. He seems to be personally highly ethical, aggressively opposing the excessive spending, earmarks and pork of the Hastert years.

He also worked his way up within a single company, moving from entry level salesman to President. That is impressive to anyone who has ever been involved in the politics within any company. You have to be talented, loyal, hard working and well liked to pull it off. Success in business is important. We need more politicians who understand what it is to meet a payroll.

On the negative side, Boehner is clearly too entangled with the crony capitalist wing of the party, supports the desire by business to keep illegal immigration going, voted for Bush' bailouts and thinks that his support for "no child left behind" was his "proudest achievement".

He certainly isn't a moderate, yet he is also clearly not as much of a libertarian as Reagan. This battle with Obama should prove interesting, as much as anything, because Obama does not do his homework. That Obama thought it worthwhile to insult Boehner's skin color is perhaps indicative of how out of touch with reality Obama is. Boehner's sister sniggered at the suggestion her brother might ever have been on a tanning bed. The "dark hair and olive skin", she said, came from her mother. It is his natural color.