An Ol' Broad's Ramblings
Archive for 5 November 2010
Klavan On The Culture
Make It Go Away!
After the Democrats’ colossal defeat Tuesday, House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-OH) is poised to become the 61st Speaker of the House in January.
But where does that leave Pelosi? She won re-election to her seat in San Francisco. So she could remain in Congress as just a rank-and-file lawmaker. But does Pelosi want to stick around as the House’s top Democrat? And does she have the support to do that?
I’m fairly sure most people have some redeeming qualities, but as far as Pelosi goes, I have my doubts. 
“She’s taking the temperature of the (Democratic) caucus,” said one senior House Democratic aide who asked not to be identified.
I would hope that the Dems would have figured out that one of the reasons they lost so BIG on Tuesday is because of Pelosi, and ask her to step back from her push for power. Pelosi was the face of Congress for 4 years, and we all knew it was plastic, in more ways than one.
Dozens of moderate House Democrats lost Tuesday. So the makeup of the House Democratic Caucus will be considerably more liberal than in the past. That phenomenon strengthens Pelosi’s power base. Plus, Pelosi is a prodigious fundraiser who has lots of chits out among her members.
It SHOULD have been the liberal Dems who lost dozens of seats, too. Well, maybe next time. 
If these folks don’t want to appear that they are puppets of Pelosi’s, perhaps they should rethink their support of her. Just a thought.
“With that big of a defeat, I think you shake up your leadership,” said Rep. Jim Matheson (D-UT), leader of the most-conservative bloc of Democrats in the House known as the Blue Dogs. “I think that’s what happens in the private sector when companies have performances that don’t work well. It happens in the sporting world when teams don’t do well. I think that applies to the caucus – the Democratic caucus as well.”
I didn’t think there were any blue dogs left.
Some Congressional sources speculate that Pelosi would be admitting defeat if she were to leave now, amid what even President Obama described as a “shellacking.”
“If she goes, it’s as though she’s accepting all the blame for what went wrong,” said one Capitol Hill source. “She can’t exit that way.”
Why the hell not? A grown up would be able to accept responsibility. Oh. Wait a minute. We’re talking about Pelosi here, aren’t we.
An administration official who spoke only on the condition that they not be identified indicated that President Obama will not weigh-in on who should be the Democrats’ top House leader.
And the laissez faire position of the White House is creating lots of consternation among Democrats.
“Why isn’t Obama involved?” questioned one Democratic Congressional aide. “He’s the President of the United States.”
He is? And here I thought he was any number of things, but being POTUS denotes leadership, and he’s DEFINITELY not a leader. Big spender. World traveler. Narcissist. Lots of adjectives, but leader ain’t one of ‘em.
As the House Democrats’ number two leader, Hoyer would be the obvious “viable” alternative to take the top job. In addition, Hoyer’s politics are moderate compared to Pelosi’s and he has significant inroads with Blue Dog Democrats.
If Hoyer is moderate, then Pelosi must be so far left, she’s upside down.
Regardless, House Democrats are in a stasis until Pelosi declares her intentions. And the lack of a speedy announcement by Pelosi appears is frustrating other Democrats in the leadership.
Whut? Are they waiting for her to pull their strings for them?
The longer this drags out, the more restless House Democrats will grow.
One Democratic aide summed it up like this: “First we had to go through the hell of Tuesday night and now this?”
Heh. Well, we’ve been going through hell for the past four years, since she took over the gavel. Welcome to our world. 
Glenn Beck 11/04/10
