Yes, it was Boehner who forced Bob Ney out of his reelection race, but it turns out that Boss Rahm forced Boehner's hand--two weeks too soon

Howie referred earlier to Jonathan Weisman's Washington Post report on the nuts and bolts of Rep. Bob "I Put My Family First" Ney's decision not to run for reelection.

He reported that the squeeze was being put on by House Majority Leader John Boehner, who was making sure that the national party would chip in no money to a Ney reelection campaign, and it's not easy to shake money out of those ripe corporate contribution trees when you're running maybe half a step ahead of the sheriff. The problem with Boehner's starve-the-campaign strategy is that, if Ney failed to take the hint and remained in the race, the result would be to turn the seat over to a Democrat. So it was necessary for Boehner to become a little more persuasive, and paint the dark picture Ney's family faces if he doesn't vamoose. Even under the weight of that ghastly rug, our Bob finally got the message.

But buried in the details was yet another tribute to the acuity of one of DWT's perennial heroes, DCCC Boss Rahm-of-the-Beltway. Let reporter Weisman explain:

Ney was finding it difficult to raise money in his poor, largely rural district, and Washington was drying up as a source for campaign cash. But party leaders had begun to despair that Ney would not yield to pressure to drop out of the race.

Then, last week, the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee began spending more than $1.5 million on Democrat Zack Space's campaign to unseat Ney. Had the DCCC waited two more weeks, House GOP aides said, Ohio's deadline to replace Ney's name on the ballot would have passed.

But once Boehner saw reports of the Democratic spending, he met with Ney last week and forcefully argued with his longtime Ohio colleague that it was in his family's best interest to step down.

Get it? Our Rahm finally spots a Democratic candidate other than one of his hand-plucked Republicrats worthy of some DCCC cash--specifically Ney's plucky challenger Space--and manages to screw up by coughing up the dough two weeks too soon!