Who should be our new House Minority Leader?

[Ken Burch]

Nancy should step down...not because she's a bad person but because she's not the guerrilla fighter we're going to need.

My own choice would be Peter DeFazio of Oregon. DeFazio showed real guts this fall fighting off a Wall Street-funded challenger.

[tritsofme]

1. Hoyer is the heavy favorite.

I doubt he faces a legitimate challenge.

[Ken Burch]

3. Why? Hoyer was the empty suit who let us down as Majority Leader?

We have no hope for gains in 2012 if the leader's a centrist corporate lackey.

Hoyer can't fire up the troops!

[Mojambo]

19. God, that would be disappointing.

[pstokely]

2. Whoever it is? It needs to be a progressive from a safe district

nt

[JI7]

4. that is such crap, she was able to get the house to pass gays in the military

and many other things which we weren't able to pass because it didn't get through the Senate where the blue dogs held more power.

don't blame Pelosi , she IS a fighter and it can be seen in what she did in the house. or did you expect her to do the work for the Senate also

[Ken Burch]

12. You missed my point.

Nancy WAS a good speaker, but now we need a passionate, populist, firebrand opposition leader to mobilize the grassroots and fire up the demoralized survivors of our caucus.

Nancy is good, but she can't play THAT role.

[deaniac21]

5. Nancy = damaged goods

[Davis_X_Machina]

9. Nancy = 240 House-passed bills, dead from...

...Senatorial inaction.

All someone can do, is do what you ask them to do. Nancy did.

[Ken Burch]

13. And I agree she was a good speaker.

But she CAN'T be a good fiery opposition leader, which is what the Minority Leader has to be now.

A bland, restrained leader can't get us gains in 2012.

[PBass]

31. Pelosi wasn't "bland" or "restrained"... this isn't pro wrestling, there are rules.

However, for the sake of perception (Democrats are changing!) the party will probably make a change. Too bad - she did a GREAT job IMO.

I just hope they don't pick a weakling to replace her.

[Ken Burch]

34. That's why we can't let it be Hoyer. He's a weaking, and a right-wing weakling at that.

All I'm saying is that it's impossible for a former speaker to become speaker again these days.

Only a trench fighter can get us our majority back.

[nmbluesky]

6. What about Hoyer?

[Ken Burch]

14. He doesn't deserve it.

Hoyer's a dino and he's going to spend most of the next two years pushing the party to surrender to Orange Boy on everything.

That's NOT what we need as Minority Leader, and following a "tack to the center" strategy HAS to consign us to permanent minority status as it did in the Nineties.

[kwolf68]

7. I like Nancy

But we need to move in new blood time and again. Don't know who I'd want, but she needs to take a step back.

[demmiblue]

8. I don't know, but I do have a great deal of respect for Speaker Pelosi for...

standing against Rahm during the Health Care debate.

[Ken Burch]

17. Me too, but it goes without saying that she can't get us back to majority status in 2012

Only a passionate street fighter can do that.

[LostInAnomie]

10. What about Dennis Kucini... HAHAHA! I couldn't even finish it!

:rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl:

[Ken Burch]

21. What does THAT mean?

Dennis probably wouldn't run, since he'd be fairly old to be Minority Leader, but what did he ever do to deserve your contempt?

It's right-wing to hate Dennis Kucinich.

[LostInAnomie]

28. I can think of a lot of shit he's done to deserve contempt.

But, to make it short, he's a self-righteous grand-stander that loves the praise chorus of his followers more than he loves actual progress.

[Ken Burch]

30. There's little actual change that comes from massive compromise.

Compromise on the healthcare bill gave the GOP its biggest issue this fall.

If our entire House had fought for single-payer, we could have used that as a mobilization issue this fall and probably SAVED our majority there, if not expanded it.

"pragmatic" types don't really change anything. Rahm Emmanuel damn sure didn't.

Besides...he voted FORE the watered-down-to-nothing healthcare bill in the end. Isn't that ENOUGH for you?

[NBachers]

11. I'd take Nancy over some lame-assed enabling equivocator

[suffragette]

15. Barbara Lee

[Ken Burch]

22. She'd be good, too.

We need someone who will always OPPOSE the strategy of distancing the party from the base.

[suffragette]

42. She'd fit that bill

[sadbear]

16. Are we going to blame Van Hollen, too, for tonight

[Ken Burch]

20. Yes.

There's no reason not to.

And we can also blame Rahm.

The kind of Dems he recruited(especially the Blue Dogs)were always going to be defeat bait in a race in which survival depended on mobilizing the base.

[cynatnite]

18. I'd rather have Nancy. n/t

[Ken Burch]

24. She was a great speaker, but has no chance of leading us back to majority status in 2012.

No former speaker has made a comeback to that chair since 1952. And that streak isn't going to be broken.

Nancy was always too conservative for her district, anyway. San Francisco's reps are supposed to be more progressive than anyone else's.

Nancy should write some books and maybe be moved into a Cabinet or "advisor" post.

We need a passion-filled street fighter to get the House back, and Nancy, with all her achievements, can never be that.

[cynatnite]

37. As much as I like Nancy, you're probably right...

Especially with Boehner as Speaker.

[the redcoat]

23. Barney all the way nt

[Ken Burch]

25. That's a thought, too.

n/t.

[Withywindle]

26. I want to put a word in for my Congressman, Luis Gutierrez, IL-4

http://www.gutierrez.house.gov/


He would be the first Latino Speaker of the House. He is a solid progressive who's almost always right on the issues (IMO, of course). He's a fighter - he's spearheaded efforts on a lot of controversial issues. He's ambitious - he put his hat in the ring for Mayor of Chicago until he really got the inside info on how fixed it was for Rahm Emanuel, and then wisely backed out and played for his House seat back. Which he won by a landslide tonight. Because his constituents like him.

Wikipedia bio:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luis_Guti%C3%A9rrez


I'm not saying he's the ONLY RIGHT CHOICE OMG. Just that he deserves consideration.

[Ken Burch]

27. Ok, he DOES sound like a good guy.

n/t.

[Withywindle]

40. He is.

Not perfect by any stretch. But I really do believe he is sincere about helping his people, and that he defines "his people" in a way that makes me feel included.

(OHNOEZ he helped his daughter buy a place in Humboldt Park! Well, Humboldt Park is being gentrified, but is definitely not a trouble-free area in Chicago. It's certainly not a tony upper-class address! Some streets are kind of nice now, others are still full of violence. It's part of HIS DISTRICT. He is WELL AWARE of the problems there.)

[Bitwit1234]

29. Weiner......he really let the house have it REMEMBER

he don't mince words and he is a fighter.

[Ken Burch]

32. That's another strong possibility.

Clearly, we can't let Hoyer have it or we're doomed to be a permanent minority in the House.

Centrism equals defeat.

[kwenu]

33. Too soon.

[Ken Burch]

35. Why?

The only way to counteract despair is to start fighting the bad guys right away.

Only a progressive populist guerrilla fighter can get us our majority back. Not someone who's big on politeness.

[kwenu]

36. I think we can give it a day but that's just my .02.

[Ken Burch]

41. I see.

n/t.

[deaniac21]

38. Well really because she sucks.

[Ken Burch]

39. She doesn't "suck", it's just she's not the right person for THIS situation.

n/t.

[jeanpalmer]

43. Will Pelosi step down?

Hard to believe she'd give up that easily.

If there is a change, a liberal has little chance of being elected. Not after how the Repubs demonized Pelosi. They'll elect a mioddle-of-the-road DINO compromiser like Hoyer. He's exactly what they'll be looking for and exactly what we don't need.