With their demotion to the minority party in the House of Representatives, Democrats are faced with a decision about who will lead the party in their new position of power.
For the Republicans, John Boehner is all but assured to become the Speaker of the House. The Congressman from the 8th District of Ohio has made it clear that the first order of business will be to repeal the health care reform passed earlier this year. Therefore, it becomes imperative that the goal of the Democrats will be to prevent this from happening.
Nancy Pelosi has been the Speaker of the House since early 2007 when the Democrats took control of Congress. Throughout her tenure as a congresswoman and as the first female Speaker of the House, Pelosi played a vital role in passing controversial legislation such as the health care reform bill, as well as making sound foreign policy decisions, namely in her opposition to the 2002 Iraq Resolution (which authorized President George W. Bush to use the military in Iraq). She has demonstrated political acumen and policy intelligence not seen nearly enough in our government.
And it’s time for her to step down.
Occasionally there comes a point in time in a nationally recognized politician’s life when, under pressure from a discontented electorate, they must relinquish their power for the betterment of the party as a whole. For right or for wrong, Pelosi has been labeled by Republicans as a far left proponent of liberal policy, and the American people have eaten up every word of it.
Consider that according to a November 2010 Rasmussen poll, 59 percent of voters viewed her unfavorably, while 47 percent of those viewed her very unfavorably. If you are unconvinced by the polls for whatever reason, then you can view the recent midterm results as a direct poll of how Americans feel about the job done by Pelosi and see she is not received warmly. Yet despite these low approval ratings, Pelosi is maintaining she will run for the Democratic minority leader. She has already come out as saying that if elected, she will nominate Steny Hoyer (current majority leader) for the minority whip and Jim Clyburn (current majority whip) for an undisclosed, “number three” slot in the hierarchy of the minority group. And no one is really opposing her.
Blue Dog Democrat Rep. Heath Shuler of North Carolina, has recently made it public that he will oppose Pelosi in the minority leader race. But no other group in Congress lost as many seats as the Blue Dog Democrats (they picked up numerous seats in previously, typically Republican-held districts during the Democrat’s ascendancy to Congress) in the recent midterm election, and so Shuler understands that his opposition will be merely symbolic.
“I can add and subtract pretty well,” Shuler said. “I don’t have the numbers to be able to win.”
This is a problem within the Democratic Party. A Blue Dog Democrat is not the answer for several reasons (their holding onto their districts is a major concern), although kudos to Shuler for taking a stand and acknowledging the need for change.
More Democrats, including Pelosi, need to come to the conclusion that the recent changing of the guard in the halls of Congress is a direct reflection of how the American people felt about Pelosi (and President Obama although he isn’t up for re-election yet. I’m not going to say whether the American people’s decision was correct or incorrect. There is so much partisanship in this country right now that policy implementation and beneficial programs initiated by Congress are either a godsend or communist. There is no middle ground. And right now, the American people view Pelosi as, if not the General Secretary, then the next highest ranking member of the Supreme Soviet. I have already stated Pelosi has done a fine job as both a congresswoman and Speaker of the House. It’s just time for her to step aside for the betterment of the Democratic Party.
Some might view this as defeatist. If she did a good job, then why should she step down at all? The sad truth is that Pelosi, along with President Obama (and to a lesser extent Harry Reid), have been marked and targeted by the Republican party as the most liberal, most leftist thinking individuals in government. Again, it isn’t even a reflection of the policy being instituted as much as it is Republicans selecting these easy targets through the media and battering them. Pelosi, perhaps the most, has suffered from this in the polls. The Democratic Party cannot hope to combat the new Republican majority in congress with Pelosi at its helm. She has too much of a stigma attached to her. It will simply embolden the Republicans without forcing them to have to adjust to a power shift within the Democratic Party. In order to preserve the legislation, she helped to pass through during her tenure, a fresh face must rise to lead the minority party in Congress.
Pelosi must step down come January.
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