Pelosi unloads on Robert Gibbs, whoever he is

[Enrique]

http://www.cqpolitics.com/wmspage.cfm?docID=news-000003700161

Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) slammed White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs during Tuesday night’s House Democratic Caucus meeting for saying Sunday that Democrats could lose control of the House in November.

Several Democratic sources in the room described a testy scenario that started with Rep. Bill Pascrell Jr. (N.J.) criticizing Gibbs for saying on NBC’s “Meet the Press” that there is “no doubt there’s enough seats in play” to allow for a House GOP takeover in 2012. Things heated up as Pelosi jumped in and blasted Gibbs for making “politically inept” comments, according to one source.

“It was bad,” another source said. “She was like: ‘I don’t appreciate it. I don’t know who this guy is. I’ve never met him before. And he’s saying that we’re going to lose the House.’”

A spokesman for Pelosi declined to comment Tuesday night.

Pelosi reportedly said Gibbs’ comments were particularly damaging because they give ammunition to Republicans trying to make the case that Democrats are going to lose in November. “Someone from the White House says it, and Cantor says it, so now you have both sides saying something,” the source said. “So she was very upset.”

At one point, the Speaker turned to Dan Turton, the White House legislative liaison, and demanded to know whether Gibbs was speaking for the White House or for himself. Turton said he did not think Gibbs’ comments were a coordinated statement, the source said.

(...)

[MadBadger]

1. I dont believe the source if it says she doesnt know who Gibbs is

[Enrique]

2. she's not speaking literally

she's saying what the fuck does he know.

[izquierdista]

4. She knows the name

She just didn't know how much of an inept loose-cannon he was.

[WI_DEM]

3. Good! It's about time the Dems started going on the offensive. When was the last time Obama had

a prime time press conference? Why isn't he holding one and opening with a statement blasting the Republicans on stalling Unemployment benefits? and quoting all the Reps who have said that unemployment benefits cause unemployment while they are willing to give more tax cuts to the rich and apologize to BP. Obama is the leader of the party and he needs to start a coordinated campaign. In a midterm election it's not about independents and trying to win the votes of the middle--it's about exciting Democrats and giving them reasons to vote.

[Pirate Smile]

5. Damn Gibbs for saying something everyone knows is true?

Is it better to feed complacency by reassuring Dems that we wont lose the House or, perhaps, scare people a bit about the very real possibility that we could?

I wouldn't mind a bit of Republican complacency. They do seem to already be assuming they are going to win everything.

[ensho]

6. its not true - the neo cons are running a scam

nt

[Pirate Smile]

9. That's believable. It doesn't sound like Nancy although I'd expect her to push back some.

[otohara]

22. "Saying It"

wasn't cool.

It's that simple - if I said something so negative towards my company, I'd get fired.

[ProSense]

7. "I don’t know who this guy is. I’ve never met him before. "

This does not sound like a response to a question about Robert Gibbs.

How do we know she wasn't asked a generic question about some guy?

Also, Gibbs did not say Democrats are going to lose the House. He made a qualified statement. So Pelosi is right to slam a definitive statement that says Democrats are going to lose the House.

"“Someone from the White House says it, and Cantor says it, so now you have both sides saying something,” the source said. “So she was very upset.”

Well, Cantor statement actually played into the Democrats' hands so this sounds like someone trying to spin this in the Republicans' favor.

This report smells like BS.

[Enrique]

11. your response is very convoluted

it's actually very simple, and obvious to me that they'd be mad. As soon as I heard what Gibbs said, I thought the House dems would be pissed. If we didn't hear anything about it I would assume they were keeping it behind closed doors for political reasons. This story just means they decided to let it get out.

[ProSense]

12. Convoluted?

Nancy Pelosi saying she never heard of or met Gibbs is rational to you?

Van Hollen isn't upset.

The OP story sounds like an extremely lame attempt at gotcha.

[Enrique]

14. perfectly rational

she's saying here we are working every day to win seats, looking at poll numbers, spending time in districts, etc., and then this guy that has nothing to do with the House, goes out there and says we're going to lose. What does he know and where does he get off saying it?

That's what she's saying.

What Van Hollen is saying is perfectly rational thing to say in public as well. Pelosi will likely also not appear upset in public, over this or any other conflict. Pelosi has clashed with the White House before, but never in public. I think maybe she should start doing it.

[ProSense]

15. So Pelosi has never met Gibbs before? n/t

[Enrique]

16. ok, you win, this story is entirely made up

just like every story that reports anything remotely negative about Obama.

Pelosi NEVER EVER disagrees with Obama on anything, and any story that suggests she does is a fabrication.

[ProSense]

17. Who said the story is made up?

Several Democratic sources in the room described a testy scenario that started with Rep. Bill Pascrell Jr. (N.J.) criticizing Gibbs for saying on NBC’s “Meet the Press” that there is “no doubt there’s enough seats in play” to allow for a House GOP takeover in 2012. Things heated up as Pelosi jumped in and blasted Gibbs for making “politically inept” comments, according to one source.

“It was bad,” another source said. “She was like: ‘I don’t appreciate it. I don’t know who this guy is. I’ve never met him before. And he’s saying that we’re going to lose the House.’”

"Sources" give no context of the actual question Pelosi responded to.

[Jennicut]

18. He said we COULD lose the House, which is entirely plausible.

[Bluenorthwest]

8. Gibbs is ill suited to the job

And that is being nice about it. Far too much Gibbs in the mix, he's supposed to be proxy for the President, not the Bobby Gibbs Hour.

[Clio the Leo]

10. We need to start ACTING like we're gonna lose the House...

... that much is clear ... Pelosi, the President and all of us here.

We are DECIDEDLY NOT fired up or ready to go.

[Name removed]

13. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Enrique]

19. more info in Wash Post

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/07/14/AR2010071402976.html

(...)

"What they wanted to do is separate themselves from us," Rep. William J. Pascrell (D-N.J.) said Wednesday, expressing what he said was a widespread belief in his caucus that the White House wants the blame to fall on lawmakers for running poor campaigns should Democrats lose the majority in November. At the Tuesday night meeting, Pascrell read Gibbs's comments word for word in front of the entire caucus, emphasizing the portion in which the press secretary said the political outcome would depend on "strong campaigns by Democrats."

"What the hell do they think we've been doing the last 12 months? We're the ones who have been taking the tough votes," Pascrell said Wednesday.

After Pascrell made his remarks to the caucus Tuesday night, Pelosi interjected that she agreed with his sentiment. "I disagree on one point, I think you were too kind to Mr. Gibbs," she said, according to Democrats familiar with her comments, who said the speaker did not embrace Pascrell's view that Gibbs's remarks were part of a White House plan.

(...)

The tension between House Democrats and the White House stems from 18 months of what the lawmakers consider to be favoritism toward the Senate, Obama's former chamber. The House has passed almost every piece of the Obama agenda, only to see much of it stall in the Senate amid threats of GOP filibusters that require 60 votes to overcome. Often, as was the case with the roughly $800 billion stimulus plan in February 2009 and the health-care bill passed more than three months ago, the House was forced to approve whatever Senate Democrats could get through their chamber.

"There's a growing sense of being taken for granted by this White House," said one House Democrat, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to talk openly about private discussions in the caucus. "The pressure's been building and Gibbs kind of crystallized that."

[LeftyAndProud60]

20. Is it just me or is this the dumbest sh1t ever. I don't see how it hurts or helps anyone. I keep

hearing Republicans are going to campaign on it, how? Why does this even matter?

[Phx_Dem]

21. Chill out, Nancy. He didn't say we were going to lose anything!

He said, "there are enough seats in play." And there are.