Pelosi's bid for speaker puts Democrats in disarray
SAN DIEGO -- To the victor goes the mayhem. Democrats in Congress are learning that lesson as they manage their way through hard feelings and even harder choices.
It's always more fun to lead the resistance than to actually have to lead. And sometimes the first decision is the toughest, like who gets to hold the gavel.
On Monday, 16 House Democrats signed a letter declaring that they would oppose Nancy Pelosi's bid to once again serve as House speaker.
The theme of the rebellion? One word: change.
"Democrats ran and won on a message of change," they wrote. "Our majority came on the backs of candidates who said that they would support new leadership because voters in hard-won districts, and across the country, want to see real change in Washington. We promised to change the status quo, and we intend to deliver on that promise."
The pro-Pelosi faction pointed out that the rebels included Utah's Ben McAdams, whose race against incumbent Rep. Mia Love was still too close to call as of late Tuesday.
The anti-Pelosi crowd responded that there were still more Democratic lawmakers who had said they were opposed to Pelosi becoming speaker who hadn't signed the letter.
One thing is beyond dispute: The California Democrat is in trouble. Pelosi needs every vote she can get if she hopes to continue what she accomplished during her first stint -- from 2007 to 2011.
Remind me. What did Pelosi accomplish the first time around? She helped President Obama round up the Democratic votes to pass the Affordable Care Act, and certainly that was no small thing. But hardline liberals did not get everything they wanted from Obamacare, and Obama himself deserves much of the credit for last-minute arm-twisting.
Besides, Pelosi took a pass on other major issues: immigration reform, entitlement reform and education reform to name just a few.
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