Until today I wasn’t even aware there’s a vote for Speaker coming up tomorrow. But in casually listening to MSNBC today, I noticed that Rep. Tim Ryan (D-OH), who ran against Nancy Pelosi for Speaker a couple years ago, thinks she’s the best pick.
Alex Witt: Is there anyone you know of who will be challenging her in a legitimate challenge come tomorrow for the speakership?
Tim Ryan: Not that I’ve heard of. So, the real choice is between Nancy Pelosi and Kevin McCarthy. And, you know, Nancy Pelosi, in her defense, has protected us from some of the more liberal ideas in our party. She’s been there to protect us from some of those. And, I think, that’s the choice, it’s going to be between her and Kevin McCarthy.
[Weekends With Alex Witt on MSNBC, 2 January 2021]
In other words, Nancy Pelosi has been protecting Republicans. When she “protects us” (standard Democrats) from “liberal ideas”, she’s stopping progressives from attacking Republicans. And this is why Tim Ryan thinks she should be retained as Speaker.
That’s actually a horrific revelation. Did Ryan understand what he was saying? Talk about damning with faint praise. Talk about a reality leak. Talk about a “gaff”. Arggggh!
It’s a little unfortunate there isn’t a credible challenge to Pelosi, other than Kevin McCarthy. While Pelosi is better than him (there’s my faint praise), she hasn’t actually done a very effective job as speaker. In fact, part of the reason we don’t have a stronger Democratic presence in Congress is because of the relatively passive strategy coming from Pelosi and other established Democrats.
With a Republican in the White House, Pelosi held the most senior elected position. She should have been leading the party, but it looks like her strategy was mostly to pass moderate bills in the House and decry Donald Trump. Attacking Trump was a great strategy for winning the presidency, but it isn’t a strategy for winning Congress, unless you closely tie Republican candidates to the horrors of Trump. As near as I can tell, no one even mentioned how bad the Republican Party is in the run-up to the November elections. It certainly didn’t make national news.
And it is certainly not a strategy for the Democratic Party winning at the state and local levels, where people might not want Trump but need a positive reason to vote for the Democrat in the race.
The Democrats put up a COVID relief bill last May, but then they tried to negotiate with Republicans. Every news cycle for months was then how Democrats were on the verge of caving in to Republican demands for less money. The correct strategy was to (1) force more money for working people into the CARES Act in March 2020, (2) demand that support for those hurt by COVID extend until the economy recovered subsequent to widespread vaccination, and (3) increase demands every time Republicans refused to go along, skewering Republican candidates to their refusal to act in all their campaigns right up to the November election.
But Democratic strategy has all been tied to the evil in the White House, not to what Democrats could do for the country with the support of the voters. It’s as if standard Democrats like Pelosi are afraid of doing too much for the people. It’s timid and ineffective. People don’t just like stronger actions, they need them in the face of an overwhelming crisis.
The way to defeat Republicans is exactly to let “liberal” (i.e., progressive) ideas come to the floor of the House, where Republicans are forced to defend their positions against them. Blocking these ideas is a defeatist strategy, which is probably responsible for us losing seats in the House. The House leadership pre-compromised with Republicans. That’s no way to win!
In what universe is “protecting” incumbent Democrats from “liberal ideas” helpful in defeating Republicans? Not ours.
I don’t think progressives are going to vote against Nancy Pelosi for speakership, but it is time for us to start thinking about who should replace her. Normally, once someone is elected Speaker, that position lasts for the rest of the current session. But I’m not sure that’s set in concrete, nor does it seem like that’s a good idea. It might be time for the party to think about reviewing the performance of the Speaker after six months or so, and holding a vote of confidence.
In the meantime, let’s start attacking Republicans. Bring progressive bills to the floor. Make the Republicans do their own work.