海角大神

Former Speaker of the House John Boehner is not a Ted Cruz fan. Boehner called the Texas senator 鈥淟ucifer in the flesh鈥� on Wednesday during聽an appearance at Stanford University.

You read that right. This is the recently retired leader of all House Republicans talking about someone who still has an outside chance of winning his party鈥檚 presidential nomination and is the establishment鈥檚 only real hope of stopping Donald Trump.

Apparently, Mr. Boehner has said this before in other settings, but this time the reference has roiled Washington鈥檚 chattering social media.聽On Wednesday, as reported by the Stanford Daily, he expounded on the theme a bit, adding, 鈥淚 have Democrat friends and Republican friends. I get along with almost everyone, but I have never worked with a more miserable [expletive] in my life.鈥�

If nothing else, this shows that in the partisan, fast-paced and social-media drenched world of modern Washington, the personal still matters.

For years, Senator Cruz made Boehner鈥檚 life miserable, politically speaking. The two men are in the same party, but members of very different factions.

Boehner was the essential inside politico, someone who worked his way up to the top job step by step. Cruz is an elected lawmaker, but still an outsider, someone who pushes his own party leadership in directions it does not want to go. Cruz encouraged rebel GOP House members to challenge Boehner鈥檚 decisions. Eventually Boehner decided he鈥檇 had enough conflict and it was better for everyone for him to step aside.

In that way, Cruz won.

But now, Cruz actually needs the Republican establishment鈥檚 help. He鈥檚 the candidate best positioned to block Mr. Trump 鈥� someone many in the party consider an apostate 鈥� from winning the nomination. Boehner鈥檚 words show how much of a struggle it may be for many in the party鈥檚 elected top ranks to rally around their unlikely champion.

Once upon a time, of course, Washington didn鈥檛 work this way.

It鈥檚 a pundit truism that back in the day, when Republican President Ronald Reagan and Democratic Speaker Tip O鈥橬eill could sit back and swap bad jokes after a long day鈥檚 work, Washington worked better. The parties could strike deals. Compromise was made easier by personal relationships, which built trust.

Today? Forget it. Lawmakers work long hours. They go home to families, not work gatherings. Partisanship precludes much interaction between opponents.

That鈥檚 the way this trope runs, in any case.

Perhaps that鈥檚 overblown. Interaction on political and party matters may still be fertile ground for people 鈥� friends and frenemies alike 鈥� to get to know each other.

But Cruz has embodied the new Washington-as-dysfunctional trope in many ways. He鈥檚 brought a scorched-earth policy to Capitol Hill and spent little time building relationships among the people that hold the power.

That has only emphasized his personal brand. He鈥檚 long argued that GOP insiders are selling out the party鈥檚 grass roots.

But it鈥檚 indicative that only four fellow Republican have endorsed Cruz for president.

Poised on the verge of what could be the most important few weeks of his political life, Cruz is standing on his scorched earth largely alone.