Has it ever happened before that a president of the United States has made the House minority leader a major focus of attack? (Perhaps Clinton did a little with Newt Gingrich, but that shouldn’t give Democrats much comfort.) What we’re seeing is the pre-speaker process: This is the first step toward John Boehner becoming the next speaker of the House. The shift to Republicans in the polls has elevated Boehner’s importance, such that the White House is already trying to use him as a foil. It’s really amazing that Boehner gave a speech in Cleveland that got very little attention–even though it was a pretty good speech–and President Obama felt compelled to go the the same city to respond. It may be that the White House finds a way to take the edge off the Republican momentum, but I doubt attacking someone not very many people know and someone people won’t find very threatening is going to do it. If Boehner does become speaker next January, though, we’ll remember today as his first day as the officially designated leader of the opposition.