Saddled with nothing to run on but a tax cut that still isn't polling well and isn't getting any traction in critical special elections, Republicans are rapidly resurrecting one of their favorite bogeymen for the midterms. And you guessed it, he's a she, as always. Get ready for the Nancy Pelosi onslaught. USA Today writes:
The House Democratic leader has been featured in roughly one-third (34%) of all GOP broadcast ads aired in House races this year, according to data provided to the USA TODAY NETWORK by Kantar Media’s Campaign Media Analysis Group (CMAG), which tracks political advertising.
That compares with 9% in all of 2016 and 13% in 2014.
“Obama’s departure and the lack of a Clinton presidency has left Pelosi as the de facto stand-in as head of the Democratic Party” and shorthand to Republican voters for “liberal big government,” said Erika Franklin Fowler, a Wesleyan University political scientist who co-directs the Wesleyan Media Project, which analyzes broadcast advertising in federal elections.
Good luck with that, GOP. Even if it gins up their base a bit in deep red districts, the election isn't going to turn on Pelosi because she isn't responsible for a single thing that's happening in Washington right now. Donald Trump and Republicans own every facet of what's going on in Washington, DC—good or bad. There's just no way that running against Pelosi (or any other Democrat for that matter, female or not) is going to make up for the fact that Republicans have nothing to run on. Trump is either going to win this or lose them for them.
The last time Pelosi was so central to the GOP message was when she was House speaker in 2010 and Republicans won a wave election.
Right. And who was in control of the federal government then? Democrats and President Obama.