Bruce Bartlett, USA Today
The debt limit needs to be abolished, but realistically only a Republican can do it because the GOP is more heavily invested in the idea of a balanced budget — even if its actions, especially on tax cuts, repeatedly belie its words. Thus, just as only the Republican Richard Nixon was able to open the diplomatic doors to then-Red China precisely because he had a reputation for being anti-communist, and liberal Democrat Bill Clinton was able to reform welfare, so too only a conservative Republican president can get rid of the debt limit.
Source: Real Clear Politics