Obama planned this perfectly. He gets to speak in front of the larger football audience while advancing the campaign narrative that he’s the victim of the racist bulling tea party and their unprecedented slap downs. Boehner did nothing courageous, he had to say no for simple logistical reasons.
I disagree. I think this was a mistake on his part. With the speech taking place at 7pm, not many people on the west coast are going to see/hear this. Not a lot of people will be able to watch TV at 4pm (West Coast Time).