John Boehner is happy where he is, thank you very much.
The Republican Speaker of the House told Jay Leno on “The Tonight Show” Thursday that his personal habits would prevent him from embarking on a White House run.
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“I do drink red wine,” Boehner said. “I smoke cigarettes. And I’m not giving that up to be president of the United States.”
As for President Obama, despite several bouts of legislative brinksmanship, Boehner insisted that there is no ill will.
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“We get along fine, but we come at our jobs from a very different perspective,” he told Leno. “I’m right of center, I think he’s way left of center. ”
The Republican leader also weighed in on the fighting within his own party between more traditional conservatives and Tea Party-backed lawmakers.
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“It’s all a fight over tactics,” Boehner said. “It’s not over what our goals are.”
Boehner noted that he publicly counseled the members of his party to steer clear of last year’s government shutdown, though he agreed that the rollout of Obamacare should be delayed.
“A leader without followers is simply a man taking a walk,” Boehner said. “I said, ‘you want to fight this fight, I’ll go fight the fight with you,’ but it was a very predictable disaster.”
Boehner used his moment on national television to dismiss one persistent rumor about the secret to his perpetual glow.
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“There are no tanning beds,” he said. “There is no spray anything.”
“My mother is dark complexioned,” he noted.
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