Nancy Pelosi Is a Nonissue
Democrats are better off with her than without her. Plus, Jonathan Bernstein’s morning links.
Staying power.
Photographer: Alex Wong/Getty Images
We’re going to see a lot of this: Politico’s Elena Schneider and Heather Caygle look at the growing group of Democratic candidates who say they’ll oppose Nancy Pelosi for speaker if they win and the Democrats have a majority. We’re still several months away, and anything is possible, but I strongly suspect Pelosi is safer than it appears.
Start with the basics. As the article acknowledges, there are actually two votes for speaker: one secret vote within the party to choose its leader, then a second one on the House floor. It will be relatively easy for these candidates to keep their campaign pledges by voting against Pelosi in the party caucus. Then they can (perhaps reluctantly) support her in the partisan vote on the first day of the new Congress.