Democrats are forming an opposition to Nancy Pelosi’s inevitable Speakership bid. But before you get too excited, it’s scarier than you think – you see, apparently she’s not far-left enough for today’s Democrat Party, which has gone completely off the rails.
President Donald Trump gave a tongue-in-cheek endorsement of Pelosi (whose frequent crazy statements are certainly an asset to Republicans) for Speaker of the House, but Democrats want someone even further left.
According to POLITICO:
“Ten Democratic incumbents or members-elect told POLITICO that they will vote against Nancy Pelosi for speaker on the House floor, exposing a serious problem for the California Democrat in her bid to reclaim the gavel. That’s an issue for Pelosi, who has led the Democratic caucus for 16 years, and significantly narrows her margin for error in her bid to lock down the 218 votes needed to return to the speakership.”
Democrats against Pelosi for Speaker
The defecting Democrats included Reps. Ed Perlmutter of Colorado, Kathleen Rice of New York, Seth Moulton of Massachusetts, Bill Foster of Illinois, Tim Ryan of Ohio, Filemon Vela of Texas, Kurt Schrader of Oregon, and Conor Lamb of Pennsylvania. The other two are representatives-elect; Virginia’s Abigail Spanberger and Colorado’s Jason Crow.
In next year’s Congress (the 116th), Democrats will control at least 226 seats. Since the Speaker is chosen by an absolute majority of votes taken, Pelosi can only afford to lose very few Democrats in order to win.
Interestingly enough, she may lose another two on top of the ten so far. In 2016, Democrat Reps. Jim Cooper and Ron Kind voted against Pelosi, and they didn’t return a request for comment from POLITICO. Of course, this isn’t an exact analysis, as there are still races that are too be decided, some of which will go to Democrats.
Pelosi continues to make the case for her leadership, citing her past experience as Speaker. She claimed that because of her negotiation skills, Democrats’ only loss so far has been the Trump tax cuts.
The Democrats continue their democratic shift leftward
The case against Pelosi from her detractors is that she isn’t left-wing enough – in a world where the left is becoming increasingly extreme.
It’s amusing to see liberal pundits talk about the growing political divide today, because it has been entirely from one side moving further in one direction. The average Republican today is only marginally more conservative than the average Republican of the 1980s. The Pew Research Center has a study titled “The Partisan Divide on Political Values Grows Even Wider,” which tracked partisan attitudes since the 1980s. Even in the early 1990s, the majority of Democrats opposed illegal immigration, thought government spending was generally wasteful, and rejected rhetoric about “systemic racism.”
Republicans, meanwhile, have barely budged. Overall Republicans have become more fiscally conservative, but also more socially liberal on some issues (such as a question that asked whether or not homosexuality should be discouraged by society).
Perhaps a Speaker even crazier than Pelosi be a boon to the GOP? Moving further left may appeal to Democrat voters, but it doesn’t appeal to anyone else.
