Pelosi Could Step Down Tomorrow

Posted Nov 13, 2012 [quote]“I love you all very dearly, but I thought I'd tell my caucus first,” the House minority leader tells reporters. She promises to announce her plans Wednesday. WASHINGTON, DC — Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi will announce tomorrow whether she intends to step down or stay on for another term as the top Democrat in the House. "I love you all very dearly, but I thought I'd tell my caucus first," Pelosi told reporters Tuesday. Pelosi has held the top slot among Democrats in the House for 10 years, a decade that saw her lead her party to control of the House, only to lose it again in 2010, and that turned her into one of the most famous women in the history of American politics. Although Democrats will remain in the minority after this election, Pelosi was upbeat as she trotted out the new members of her party's caucus at a press conference Tuesday. “We may not have the majority. We may not have the gavel. But we have unity,” she said. Pelosi was joined by Rep. Steve Israel, the head of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, who touted the demographic makeup of House Democrats — the most female- and minority-rich in the history of the caucus. “The Republican caucus looks like a rerun of Mad Men," Israel said. "Our caucus looks like America.” “With these new members, the Tea Party starts to roll back, and we can begin to move forward," he added.

http%3A//www.buzzfeed.com/rebeccaberg/pelosi-could-step-down-tomorrow



• Time for the "old guard" to go! I'd love to see a real Democratic liberal like Alan Grayson from Florida, become Leader. He's outspoken and he's from Florida, which may help to win elections. Or even Joaquin Castro (Julian's twin brother) who was just elected, would be a great choice. It would be interesting to see a Latino/Latina face in Congressional leadership, to counter John Boehner. How cool would it be in 2015 to see Obama, Biden, and a Latino/Latina face sitting up there on stage, during Obama's State of the Union speech? Nancy served 10 years. She did a good job, but now it's time for her to move on.

• R1, Minority Leader is not an entry level position. (I'd guess that if she leaves, it would go to the whip, Steny Hoyer - not an improvement. I hope she stays.) (I'm surprised this thread hasn't brought out the Pelosi haters.)

• Nooooo! You know who's going to replace her? Some mealy mouthed blue dog centrist like Steny Hoyer. It has to be someone who's been around forever because there is A LOT of horestrading going on to get that position

  Ugh

• What R3 said. Steny Hoyer is a disaster. If Nancy leaves, she needs to position someone else to take over.

• R2: I hate her for the reason we all know. But I hate the idea of a blue dog asshole like Hoyer being minority leader even more.

• I don't think she'll blink.

• Democrats need to think strategically with this position, in setting up for 2014 mid-term elections. Pelosi is/was a lightning rod, and reich wing talk radio uses her as a means of getting people to vote AGAINST Democrats. We need someone who deflects criticism, and who puts Republicans in a tight spot. A Latino would be perfect, because it would bolster Democratic cred with Hispanics, and Republicans couldn't say ONE WORD because they need the Latino vote - especially after this year's election. Another would be Debbie Wasserman-Schultz, who could help with the Jewish vote. She's been a good party leader, and she strikes a much more reasonable tone than Pelosi. She's very low key. Steny Hoyer would be bad because (as has been mentioned) he's a blue dog. The other option is Jim Clyburn who is the assistant leader, but since he's also African American, I can just see Republican heads exploding, with both Obama and Clyburn in positions of leadership. Weiner really blew it for us. He could have been an up-and-comer, but instead he collapsed. Do we have any other options besides Pelosi, Hoyer and Clyburn?

• Sorry if I miss this part but did they say why she might step down?

• Xavier Becerra would be good, no? He's Mexican-American, and he has a lot of experience in the House.

• [quote]Weiner really blew it for us. He could have been an up-and-comer, but instead he collapsed. Was that sexual innuendo intended, r7?

  wiener%20blew%20it%2C%20up%20and%20comer%2C%20collapsed

• I think Weiner will be back. I do wonder what he's doing these days. Househusband while the wife is off with Hilary?

• [quote]Sorry if I miss this part but did they say why she might step down? Because she failed to win back the House. There were some Democratic pickups, but nowhere near as many as needed. Pelosi has been leader for a while, and while I don't blame her, she's unfortunately not popular in the country at large because of the way the Republicans demonized her. So we may need someone new who doesn't have all that baggage.

• Good riddance. She helped Bush destroy the economy.

• How on earth did she "help Bush destroy the economy?" I figured she would leave because she's been the Democratic leader in the House for 10 years and that's a long time. I don't think anyone expected her to win back the House.

• Nancy is going nowhere. She's not about to give up power.

  You'll see.

• r7, I love the idea of Debbie Wasserman-Schultz. I've never liked Pelosi. The only slight drawback regarding Wasserman-Schultz is that she already holds a key position as chair of the Democratic National Committee. I've seen quite a few interviews with Wasserman-Schultz. She is pragmatic & very intelligent. Like r7 stated, her tone would be a huge improvement over Pelosi.

• I'm a big fan of Nancy, but she is a poor communicator. She's seemed to stammer her way through every interview or press conference of hers I've seen. I, too, would love to see DWS get the nod. She would be demonized just as much as Pelosi, of course, but she's better at fighting back. Still, I can't imagine she's in the running. She'd probably have to step down as DNC Chair to become leader.

• I seriously doubt she's going to step down. I certainly hope she stays. Nancy Pelosi is one of the most legislatively successful Speakers we've had in my lifetime. Republicans fear her for a reason. She's fucking great at her job. The thing with throwing out names as possible Minority Leaders is that they won't get the job. Her replacement would be Hoyer or Clyburn. Both are able and necessary Reps with long histories in the House. Neither has the skills of Nancy Pelosi.

• Hear hear R18! Seconded!

• [quote] Nancy Pelosi is one of the most legislatively successful Speakers we've had in my lifetime. Republicans fear her for a reason. She's fucking great at her job. She may be great at her job, but she's not that good at helping Dems to win back the House. The key factor here is that we NEED to win back the House, in order to get anything done. She can be as tough and scary as she wants to be, but as Minority Leader, it gets us nowhere, as the last two years have demonstrated. We need a good Leader, AND an effective campaigner and "face" of the Democratic Party, who people will support, and be willing to vote for more Democrats. In red states, just mention the name Pelosi, and they go nuts. More dog whistle words get thrown out like "San Francisco" and "Liberal." Obama has already won a second term, and now we have to focus on winning back the House, to have total control over the House and the Senate, so that we can effect some REAL change. As long as we're in this Dem Senate and Rep House division, absolutely nothing will get done. It will be gridlock for two more years. Our party has to move beyond Pelosi, to Wasserman or someone else of the new guard, who can help our party win seats in the House. Winning the Presidency is no goood, unless you have the legislative branch to work with, to help pass laws. Until then, it's permanent gridlock and more "fiscal cliffs." I'm so fucking tired of it. We need some new leadership in the House.

• The heat is on.

• I will never forgive her for taking impeachment of the table in regards to Bush. Good fucking riddance. If I ever saw her I would smack the living shit out of her and stomp on her fucked up Joker-like face.

• Democratic House candidates won more of the popular vote than their Republican. Redistricting drew such a GOP-friendly map that Republicans have an inherent advantage.

• [quote] It would be interesting to see a Latino/Latina face in Congressional leadership, to counter John Boehner. That would fix the current tanning inequality.

• I happened to have it on Fox when they did a report about Kerry being Defense Secretary. The ONLY photos they showed of the senator and former presidential candidate were of him as a goofy kid giving up his medals. They were all b&w from the 1960s.

• R22 is right Nancy Pelosi leaves behind a legacy of shame.

• .

• Wonkette provided coverage of Nancy handing Luke Russert his ass:

  http://wonkette.com/489810/bright-young-thing-luke-russert-asks-nancy-pelosi-why-an-old-lady-like-her-wont-step-aside-for-someone-young-and-cute

  she%27s%20staying

• Very unfortunate news, r28.

• This time 25 seats needed to flip for the Dems to take back the house. We've cut into that, but gerrymandering is not in our favor . And Steve Israel is a disaster as DNCC. He's the one that needs to go.

• I'm glad she's staying. The Dems were never going to win the House this time around but it's a good time for them to build momentum. Pelosi's experience could only help. Besides Stoyer would be a disaster.

• Did anyone else hear about that fucking shithead Luke Russert asking a sexist/ageist question to Pelosi? My God, for a fuckhead who had his job handed to him to ask a question like that, he needs to be punched so hard. It would be a fair question, if not for the fact that you know he'd never ask Mitch McConnell or Harry Reid that question... and the fact that he's a little douchebag who doesn't comprehend working hard for years to attain that level of success.

  http://www.theatlanticwire.com/politics/2012/11/luke-russerts-question-pelosi-would-have-gone-over-better-if-luke-russert-didnt-ask-it/59005/

• And David Axelrod went after him: [quote]Luke Russert ‏@LukeRussert [quote]Remember, one does not need to be an elected member of Congress to be Speaker of the House. One only needs to be 35. Expand [quote]59m David Axelrod David Axelrod ‏@[...]xelrod [quote]Which means you, @LukeRussert, will, once again, not qualify!

• Fuck you hard, R22.

• Bump

• She is the idiot who refused to allow anyone to defend Weiner, forced him to quit and then the Dems lost his seat in the next election thanks to her stupidity. If the repukes don't care that one of their family values and married senators was paying hookers to fuck him why should the dems kick someone to the curb for far less? She is an idiot and needs to go away.

• Would someone please start a separate thread on Russert's comments? I am fuming over the audacity of that entitled, talentless little no-neck piece of shit!!

• Bottom line? We won't win back the House until we dump Pelosi and get someone who the majority of Americans like. The Speaker of the House is 3rd in line for the Presidency, and Americans realize this. Boehner is an asshole, but he's "palatable" to the public. We need someone like him, who the country can look at and say, alright, we'll give Dems the House because this person would be a good speaker. Until we find that person, we'll have divided government. And no, Pelosi, Hoyer, and Clyburn don't fit the bill.

• That cloying bitch has a grifter husband to prop up. Of course she didn't have enough class to step aside.