Democrats might want to keep in mind something that humorist Will Rogers famously quipped, “I am not a member of any organized political party. I’m a Democrat.”
Rogers’ sentiment echoes today as House Democrats decide whether to keep Nancy Pelosi as their leader and thereby return her as speaker of the House. She was the first female speaker and would also be the first to return.
For Republicans, Pelosi is the piñata that keeps donors giving, much as Ted Kennedy was to a previous generation of Republicans. Like Kennedy, she is someone who can work across the aisle, but unlike Kennedy, she is a shrewd general who knows how to get her members to toe the line.
Nancy Pelosi is “the best speaker I’ve ever seen,” said David Obey, a former Democratic congressman from Wisconsin. As he told Robert Draper of the New York Times,“She understands her caucus, and she doesn’t run it like a San Francisco liberal. She runs it by trying to find its center of gravity. She works harder than anybody I’ve ever seen, and I think she has more determination to stand for something than anybody I’ve ever dealt with.”
Married to a wealthy businessman with whom she has five grown children, Pelosi is a fundraiser’s fundraiser. She travels throughout the country raising money and spreads that largesse to fellow Democrats. It is a key to her power in Congress.
So why would anyone want to buck Nancy now? One, she’s 78 and is perceived as old. Two, she’s surrounded herself with leaders nearly her same age. Three, she can be vindictive; she never forgets those who oppose her.
The biggest complaint against her—that she…
