How Jon Stewart Helped Defeat a Key Pelosi Ally

The intra-Democratic battle to lead the party on the House Energy and Commerce Committee was, up to this week, exciting and obscure. New Jersey Representative Frank Pallone, elected in 1988, wanted the job, which (until the party wins back the majority) represents a leading role on everything from the environment to the ACA to the Internet. California Representative Anna Eshoo, elected in 1992, was angling for the same job. Both wanted to succeed California Representative Henry Waxman, who's retiring this year, and whose takeover of the role (from Michigan Representative John Dingell) represented a huge progressive victory in 2008. Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi preferred that the Californian succeed her fellow Californian.

Then came the case of Illinois Representative Tammy Duckworth. A Democratic star since she was first tapped to run for Congress, way back in 2006, Duckworth is a double-amputee veteran of the Iraq War—and, currently, eight months pregnant. She'd asked for a proxy vote, but as Billy House reported, Pelosi was among the members objecting to that.