Paul Waldman:
Democrats Sticking With Pelosi.Since
Nancy Pelosi announced over the weekend that she'll be seeking to retain her leadership of House Democrats, we've seen multiple articles quoting anonymous Democrats saying it's a bad idea. We've even had the reasonably liberal New York Times editorial page
call for her to step aside. Republicans are
saying much the same thing. Among the reasons are that Democrats need new blood, Democrats need to compromise with Republicans and she's a serious partisan, and if she stays around she'll continue to be vilified by the right.
All of this is just silly. The fact is that Nancy Pelosi is the toughest and most skilled pol on either end of Pennsylvania Avenue. She just engineered the most productive session of Congress in memory, delivering health care reform, financial reform, student loan reform, a stimulus bill, and a whole lot of other things to boot. One thing you can say about her is that she understands governing -- she knew that the Democrats had the best opportunity they might ever get to pass progressive legislation, and she took full advantage of it. Dealing with an unruly caucus, many of whom weren't inclined to support that agenda, she got win after win after win, where a lesser Speaker would have faltered. And as Greg Sargent
points out, the Minority Leader's job in the next two years is going to be largely to engage in procedural warfare against the Republicans in order to keep them from rolling back the accomplishments of the last two years, something she's demonstrated herself to be pretty good at.
Yeah, Republicans will run against her. But let's get serious -- they'll run against whoever leads the Democrats. That's what they do. And while it's true that people who listen to
Rush Limbaugh and watch Fox News really, really don't like her, I have yet to see any evidence that the attacks against her persuade anyone who isn't already a die-hard Republican. The Democrats' success in beating back Republican attempts to undo the 111th Congress and winning back the House could depend in substantial part on who the Minority Leader is, but they will not depend at all on what the Minority Leader's approval ratings are.
Republicans are now pretending that they're happy to have Pelosi around to criticize. It would be a little more persuasive if she didn't have such a lengthy record of beating them over and over. Of all the things she has demonstrated over the last few years, few are more important than the ability to tune out the Beltway conventional wisdom about what Democrats ought to do, and determine what is really the most strategically advantageous course. It's a quality more Democrats ought to cultivate.
Updated to add:
Katrina vanden Heuvel
I like fighters. I especially like intelligent, women fighters and Nancy Pelosi certainly fits that bill. The savvy, gutsy Speaker has announced her intention to
run for Minority Leader in the next Congress, and I hope the Dems get their act together and elect her.
<...>
Pelosi never underestimated the political risks of her aggressive agenda but didn’t let it stop her. She
told The Nation’s Christopher Hayes that Washington, DC is “the city of the perishable. When you got the vote, you take the vote.”
<...>
Opportunistic corporate Democrats want a party that is GOP-lite and they are using the midterm results to try to move in that direction. But if Democrats want to give the American people a real choice when it comes to governing--then this woman who doesn’t quit (in contrast to the ex-Governor of Alaska) is the right choice.
<...>
Congressman George Miller called Pelosi “one of the toughest people in politics today” who “accomplished more than any other Speaker in history.”
It’s that toughness and proven leadership that Democrats--and this country--need more than anything right now.
November 08, 2010
Speaker Pelosi has been, and always will be, a tireless champion for working families.
Under her leadership the House has fought for good jobs here in America by ending tax breaks for companies that ship jobs overseas, has invested in infrastructure and green jobs and saved the domestic auto industry. They took on Wall Street and the corporations that wrecked our economy and passed the toughest laws to protect consumers in generations. They passed historic health care legislation that ends denial of coverage for pre-existing conditions, closes the prescription drug "donut hole" for seniors and allows children to stay on their parent's insurance until the age of 26.
None of these bills, along with countless others, could have passed without Speaker Pelosi's consensus and coalition building. Whether union members or their Representatives are from a blue, red, or purple district, Pelosi has always listened to them and represented their interests.
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