I've been talking to an increasing number of progressive candidates for Congress who have told me that they have no intention of voting for Pelosi as speaker in 2021. Flagstaff progressive and AZ-01 congressional candidate Eva Putzova head it right on the head: "If we are going to address climate and healthcare crises and inequality, we need leaders who understand that yesterday's politics won't work.
First came the vote for Speaker. Pelosi, the lesser evil got 220 votes and Kevin McCarthy, the greater evil not 192 votes. That leaves 22 members of Congress who voted for neither. A man who can't wait to prove he's the biggest moron in the new Congress, aggressively reactionary Blue Dog Jeff Van Drew (NJ), shouted out "NO," which doesn't mean anything in this instance.
Loser (l) and winner (r)Tuesday evening, Liz Goodwin, writing for the Boston Globe, speculated that conservative and very ambitious Massachusetts congressman Seth Moulton was playing a risky game against Pelosi.
It's time for Nancy Pelosi to go. We need someone else to lead the Democratic Party in Congress. She's part of a status quo-- like Hillary-- that voters are not happy about. IT IS TIME FOR HER TO MOVE ON and make way for someone who comes from a different, more up-to-date personal and political context. Pelosi's priorities are no longer in synch with the priorities of the Democratic base. But that does not mean throwing her out and replacing her with a cabal of Wall Street and Big PhRMA-backed corporate shills. God forbid!
Bernie founded the Congressional Caucus in 1991 and among the first 20 members only 5 are still in the House: Pete DeFazio (D-OR), Maxine Waters (R-CA), Nydia Velázquez (D-NY), Jerry Nadler (D-NY) and Nancy Pelosi (D-CA)... yes, Nancy Pelosi. She was a progressive then and back then the "progressive" in the Congressional Progressive Caucus meant a lot more than it does now.
I often write that Joe Crowley-- handpicked by Pelosi and Hoyer to take over the House Democrats after they leave-- is the single most corrupt Democrat in Congress. Over the weekend I got a call from a friendly Democrat in Congress who asked me on what basis I keep making that claim.
Would the Democrats win more votes in November if Pelosi announced she was retiring? No one doubts it. Does she care? Nope; she's obsessed. I speak with candidates and members of Congress every day. Almost no one I speak with wants Pelosi leading the party-- including people who admire her.
The DCCC has been recruiting-- not just supporting-- NRA allies. Jeff Van Drew (Blue Dog-NJ), Anthony Brindisi (Blue Dog-NY), Ann Kirkpatrick (New Dem-AZ), Lauren Baer (New Dem-FL) and Paul Davis (Blue Dog-KS) are all NRA/DCCC candidates. There are others in Congress already who have had long records backing the NRA and, of course, the DCCC backs them too-- from Henry Cuellar (Blue Dog-TX) to Darren Soto (New Dem-FL).
