Lessons from the Age of Ron and Tip

Obama and Boehner can still get something done. Just take a page from Ron and Tip

By Chris Matthews Monday, Oct. 07, 2013

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    In 1984, Tip asked Reagan to lean on his friendship with British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher to make progress in bringing peace to Northern Ireland. The result was the Anglo-Irish Agreement of 1985, which declared that any change in Northern Ireland's status would be decided by the ballot.

    The two parties are more divided now than they were in 1985. But there are ways to keep the government from crashing to a halt or, worse yet, going into default. The President would be better off if he spoke of the Affordable Care Act as a Democratic achievement. The party has been promising it and fighting for it for decades. If he wants the Democrats to fight all out (and to let the Republicans know they will), he needs to sew it on their jerseys. His own clout will increase as well.

    And here's one for the Speaker. He cannot let his party be driven until Christmas by the 30 members on the Tea Party right. At that moment of truth, he may consider doing what Tip O'Neill did in similar circumstances. He told the Reagan people he would try to deliver all the Democrats he could to vote to raise the debt ceiling. All he wanted in return was a letter from Ronald Reagan asking them to do just that. The votes followed. Now let's see if John Boehner can arrange something like that.

    Matthews is the host of MSNBC's Hardball and the author of Tip and the Gipper: When Politics Worked, which will be published Oct. 1

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