Back on October 5, 2005, Markos declared: "We won on social security. If Democrats stick together, we can win."
That was the day George W. Bush conceded defeat of his big plan to use the "capital" he "earned" in the 2004 election to privatize Social Security. Who led Democrats to that big win, after yet another bruising election in which a hugely unqualified Republican ended up in the Oval Office? Yeah, that's right. It was Nancy Pelosi, and in case you don't remember all the ins and outs of that, Matt Yglesias does, and reminds us.
Democrats had sustained a ton of losses legislatively to the Bush-Cheney machine, on the Iraq debacle and on tax cuts and on Medicare prescription drugs. Democrats caved on those things, providing the votes he needed to get them passed. Then came this. Then came the demands that Democrats come up with their counter plan, that they figure out how to cut Social Security in a kinder, gentler way. And when Pelosi was pushed by the significant Blue Dog caucus for her plan, when it was going to happen, she had one answer:
"Never. Is never good enough for you?"
While Democrats stood firm, refusing to play the game, Republicans beat themselves. They never even came up with the legislation for Bush's vision.
The Blue Dogs hung around, but have shrunk and shrunk to the point that they've lost their bite. The final straw for them might have been another huge Pelosi achievement: the Affordable Care Act. While the Senate Democrats spent months and months being jerked around by Republicans pretending to negotiate, Pelosi got a bill—with a public option—passed. When Sen. Ted Kennedy passed, and Scott Brown (remember him?) shockingly won his seat and Democrats lost their filibuster-proof majority, Pelosi made it happen. She refused to accept defeat and here we are now. Obamacare is still the law of the land, battered and bruised, but still having provided health insurance for more than 20 million people.
There's clearly only one person who should be leading House Democrats against the malignant forces of Mitch McConnell and Donald Trump. We'll have your back, Nancy Pelosi.
