As President Obama watches the debt ceiling developments in the House of Representatives, it’s worth reflecting on what result he is likely rooting for.

Is Obama hoping that House Republicans will pass their proposed legislation to raise the debt limit, not raise taxes, and not let him avoid another debt limit fight prior to Election Day, while trimming $3.6 trillion in deficit spending versus his 10-year budget (just in the bill’s initial stage, followed by another $1.6 trillion in spending cuts to follow if the debt ceiling is to be raised again)? Is he hoping for this result, knowing that passage of the GOP bill would give it the inside track in the legislative process and all but ensure that something not too far from it would soon end up on his desk — thereby forcing him either to sign it or else to take the preponderance of the blame for allowing the debt ceiling to be exceeded?