Nancy Pelosi, at the urging of this community and others, has decided to run for Minority Leader of the Congressional Democrats. She'll all but definitely win that contest. In many ways this shouldn't be surprising- she has been, after all, the leader for quite some time. She was an effective leader more often than not. However, I feel that she no longer is. She has zero political capital and is widely disapproved and mocked by the public these days. That's not surprising, given that it's Congress, but nonetheless we could have found a different face for Congressional Democrats.
So why couldn't we have found a fresher face?
Somewhere during the debate this became a Progressives vs. Moderates, or Progressives vs. Blue Dogs debate. That wasn't really the case at all. There were plenty of acceptable progressives to fill the leadership role, and no I'm not talking about Steny Hoyer. The wide-and-silent desire for Nancy Pelosi to step down with dignity had everything to do with politics. The Democrats she led had their asses handed to them, and some of us happen to be strong believers in accountability. However, in the face of not-so-silent calls for her to step down, many progressives reacted in the wrong way.
It seems Harry Reid will remain where he is.(I was rooting for Durbin, or even Kerry...) Ergo, the top Democrats in the House and Senate are remaining right where they are. That doesn't provide a huge incentive for voters to increase Democratic power in the Capital two years from now, especially after a large number of those voters just took so much of that power away. It may not have been such a bad idea for Reid and Pelosi to show some humility, and do what is ultimatly better for their respective teams on both sides of Congress. Perhaps if Pelosi's seat wasn't so safe, and perhaps if Reid's challenger wasn't so loony, they might have thought twice about sticking it out as Democratic leaders.
I respect the dedication of so many to stick it out with Reid and Pelosi despite the disapproval they face from so many, but I don't see how it will benefit either progressive nor Democratic causes.