So, what about Nancy Pelosi?
One
of the more dramatic sidelights in that dramatic congressional election
in Pennsylvania was the way Republicans attempted to turn the whole
campaign into a Pelosi referendum.
If
you lived in the Pittsburgh area, you saw multitudinous ads warning
that Democrat Conor Lamb would “join Pelosi’s liberal flock” if he won.
People there will probably spend the spring wandering around muttering
“Nancy Pelosi and Conor Lamb Are Still Opposing Your Tax Cut.”
“You
cannot watch TV at any time of the day or night without seeing the
‘mudslinging’ campaigns,” one reader complained to the Pittsburgh
Post-Gazette. It’s tough, all the advertising overkill that comes with a
tight election. Those of us who live in districts where the typical
contest is a 12-term incumbent versus anything the opposition can dig up
— a woman who just moved into the state, a guy who just got out of
prison on an arson conviction, a 12-year-old Chihuahua — are so lucky.
For
Pelosi, the only downside to Lamb’s victory was the part where he
promised he’d never vote to keep her on as leader. (“My take is, if
these people have been around for several years and they haven’t solved
these problems that have been hanging around, it’s time for someone new
to step up and get it done.”)
So what does this all mean?
A)
Pelosi loses! How many other Democrats in tough races will promise to
replace her? It’s a hell of a lot easier than balancing the budget.
B)
Pelosi wins! Look, she would have been perfectly happy to have Lamb
call her a voodoo-priestess puppy-killer if it got her another seat.
C)
Republicans self-immolate! People who bet their political fortunes on
the presumption that voters care who’s the House minority leader deserve
what they get.
O.K.,
it’s very possible that your average voter is not all that obsessed
with Nancy Pelosi. But I know you’re different, concerned citizen. And
she really has been through a lot. David Barker, a government professor
at American University, thinks the Republican effort to portray Pelosi
as an uber-villain “may be unique, historically speaking.” And the
reason, Barker adds, has to be “at least partially related to gender.”
Pelosi
doesn’t really love the idea that the Republicans’ hatred is about
sexism. “I don’t think it’s because I’m a woman. It’s because I’m an
effective leader,” she said in a phone interview.
Or
it could be both. Pelosi is famous as a behind-the-scenes tactician.
When the Democrats controlled the House and Barack Obama was president,
she single-handedly dragged the Affordable Care Act to passage like a
firefighter rescuing a comatose 300-pound fifth-floor resident from a
burning building. And as a fund-raiser, she’s a veritable vacuum
cleaner.
She
sounds as if she wants to stay. “I wouldn’t give that up lightly,” she
said of her job. “Nor do the women of the country want me to.”
But
the Democrats in the House aren’t all enthusiastic. Some have been
saying they want a leader who’s younger, more open to new ideas, less
likely to become a political meme for the opposition. “I do think it’s
time to pass the torch to a new generation,” said Representative Linda
Sánchez, 49, in a recent TV interview.
You
do have to admit the Democratic leadership is looking a little …
non-fresh. Pelosi turns 78 this month. The next two people in line —
Steny Hoyer and James Clyburn — are equally senior.
“And why is it that the only one being pressured to leave is a woman?” demanded one of Pelosi’s friends.
Well,
probably because she’s on top. Although if she was replaced by the
78-year-old Hoyer, that would be pretty embarrassing. And some of the
younger Democrats who are mentioned most often as possible successors —
like 56-year-old Representative Joe Crowley of Queens — aren’t exactly
new brooms.
The
ideal solution — except for the other Democrats who are eyeing her job —
might be for Pelosi to come back with a new message. Maybe she could
follow the Republican lead and impose term limits on committee
leadership jobs, giving junior members a chance to shine. The Democrats
haven’t done this because of opposition from the Congressional Black
Caucus, which argues that the current seniority system is good for
minority members. It’s certainly good for the veteran minority members
who have important posts they can keep forever. But the younger,
ambitious black House Democrats are stuck in the same clogged system as
their white counterparts.
If
the public thinks Pelosi is less than inspiring, that’s probably
because making messy political bargains and fund-raising aren’t exactly
celebrated skills these days. Polls show House Speaker Paul Ryan is
equally (un)popular. And he’s now being Pelosi-ed by a Democratic super
PAC with a new ad showing a man who’s supposed to be Ryan drinking
champagne, admiring his hair and working out in the gym in the most
self-obsessed manner possible. “Whoever Speaker Ryan thinks about — it
probably isn’t you,” the narrator warns.
Plus,
there’s that election in November. Right now, it seems as if nothing
can save the Republican majority. Not even promising to get rid of Paul
Ryan. Although it probably wouldn’t hurt.
Guess Pelosi wins.
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