Nancy Pelosi is going to be the next speaker. End of story.

[Botany]

There will be no big fight despite how much the media and the GOP wants
that to happen. She has done a good job, she is a class act, and she knows
how to get things done.

[NurseJackie]

1. Correct! Message to her critics: Deal with it!

She has done a good job, she is a class act, and she knows
how to get things done.

Correct! Message to her critics: Deal with it!

[Botany]

3. Nancy helped to bring in the blue wave and in case nobody has noticed lots of the ....

.... new congress is made up of women. This "big fight" over who is gonna be the next
speaker is a nothing burger.

[dubyadiprecession]

2. I hope you are right.

[In It to Win It]

4. Exactly! It NEEDS to be Nancy.

[Hortensis]

5. :) She will, but first more high drama.

Maneuvering for advancement will continue, underprincipled behavior isn't going to turn into good, etc.

And behind all the noise a majority of good, experienced people will make sure the result is what they need to be successful in the work they came to do.

Link to tweet

[NurseJackie]

6. The hatred and contempt aimed at Nancy Pelosi rivals that hurled at DWS...

The hatred and contempt aimed at Nancy Pelosi rivals that hurled at DWS... and I wonder if there's some sort of mistaken identity going on here. Could it be that Nancy is a proxy pinata for some other underlying angst, disappointment, or perceived slights among those who are her loudest opposition? (You know who I mean... the ones who "admire her, BUT" or who "think she's great, BUT"... blah-blah-blah.)

[Hermit-The-Prog]

7. and HRC in 2016

Democrats owe Pelosi the chance to be Speaker. Their plot to deny her of it is foolish.

Although they would deny it, the effort by a number of House Democrats to block Rep. Nancy Pelosi from resuming the speakership that she was forced to relinquish after the 2010 election, bears a resemblance to the acceptance, by some Americans, of the anti-Hillary Clinton narrative peddled on social media by Russian trolls in 2016. In the case of Pelosi, the hostile power that launched the demonization of the Democratic leader was the Republican Party.

GOP campaign organizations dug a rabbit hole that some Democrats eagerly dived into. These Democratic back-benchers in the House who have been mounting a challenge to Pelosi have bought into this grotesque GOP narrative on her and it has soured the growing Democratic majority that has been unfolding since November 6.

Democrats forcing Pelosi from the speakership would be akin to Abraham Lincoln firing General William T. Sherman after he captured the city of Atlanta from the Confederates based on false rebel narratives of atrocities even though the fall of the city enabled Lincoln to win the election of 1864.

[...]

https://www.northjersey.com/story/opinion/2018/11/16/nancy-pelosi-speaker-rebellion-democrats-blue-wave-column/2014178002/

[NurseJackie]

9. That article makes excellent points. The irrational contempt and venom being spewed at Pelosi...

That article makes excellent points. The irrational contempt and venom being spewed at Nancy Pelosi appears to NOT be motivated by actual hatred for Nancy Pelosi herself. This is something that's deeper... lingering... simmering... just now reaching a boiling point and bubbling up to the surface. Things are starting to become clearer to me, but, for obvious reasons I probably shouldn't elaborate too much on what my suspicions and theories are. I'll just remain quiet for now.

[Johnny2X2X]

17. What contempt?

Questioning whether or not she should be the Speaker is not contempt.

I think we should have a vigorous debate about who should be the next speaker, how is that contempt? Pelosi has been effective as Speaker, that doesn't mean that being speaker should just be handed to her without any challenge. Let's see what other candidates have to offer.

It's about winning in 2020, that's all it should be about. If Nancy Pelosi gives us the best chance to win in 2020, I am all for her, if not then who will give us the best chance? I haven't heard a name or argument for another speaker yet, I want to hear those.

[Jarqui]

19. I'm with you.

I have nothing but respect for Nancy, what she has done and how she has done it. I don't care what her gender is and never did. She has been riddled with the deceitful slings and arrows from the other party and stood firm with class and dignity for our causes. I appreciate that very much. I'm also in no rush to get rid of her. I'm very comfortable with her starting 2019 as Speaker and know of no one better qualified to do the job.

But Democrats do need to look ahead to 2020 and beyond. And we need to start thinking about who the standard bearer should be. Finding the right leader to go forward with will help in 2020 and beyond. Looking ahead is not an act of contempt. Not looking ahead is an act of contempt against our future. I see nothing wrong with having discussions about where we are going and who will provide the leadership. I think it is wrong not to start that discussion.

[Hortensis]

29. Jarqui, the speaker is NOT our standard bearer.

Republicans have pushed our woman speaker to the front to make her into a demon representing all that many fear about change and empowering women and minorities.

But speakers are chosen by their colleagues because they work with them. In congress, in meeting rooms, conferences, phone calls, etc. Our presidential candidates are the ones up on the stages. And if you think about it, you'll notice that during and after elections the 4 top leaders in congress normally try to stay out of the limelight, delegating committee heads to become the caucus's faces on the issues.

[Jarqui]

34. I largely disagree

The slight point of agreement would be with "our" being interpreted as if the Speaker or Minority Leader is the only standard bearer - which they are obviously not.

Definition of leader: "the person who leads or commands a group or organization" which Nancy has done since 2002 in the House. Gingrich, Boehner & Ryan are examples of leaders in a similar capacity for the Republicans

Nancy Pelosi has been a leader by title "Minority Leader", by election - getting the most votes for that position and by practice, front and center behind the microphone in the media or on the floor.

Definition of standard bearer: "a leading figure in a cause or movement" Nancy Pelosi, as leader of the Democrats in the House of Representatives since 2002, and during her time as speaker, 3rd in line to be President, is a leading figure in the Democratic party and therefore, a standard bearer by definition.

Gingrich, Boehner & Ryan ... they were the mouthpieces in the media for the House and standard bearers for the Republicans - similar to how Nancy has been for the Democrats.

There is a reason why the Republicans spent tens of millions of dollars this year running over 100,000 anti-Pelosi ads. They were attacking one of the standard bearers of the other party trying to help Republicans win elections. To her credit, Nancy Pelosi has withstood 15-16 years of those sorts of attacks with as much class, integrity and dignity as anyone could muster.

The time is approaching to get a new Piñata for the party whose favorability hasn't been deceitfully thumped for 15-16 years into a -23.

[Hortensis]

41. Our nominee becomes the leader of our party.

[Jarqui]

42. A statement of the obvious that does not fully address the issue

Oh wise one, who is the current standard bearer for the Democrats right now?

1. Guess what? We do not have a nominee and haven't had one for more than two years

Are you advocating that any time the Democrats lose a presidential election, they have no standard bearer for the party whatsoever until a new nominee is named at a convention nearly four years later? Are you serious? Rhetorical question.

2. Between Jan 1, 2018 and Oct 15th, 2018 which politician in America was attacked more in ads than any other US politician?
Answer: Nancy Pelosi - attacked with negative ads more than 100,000 times - more attack ads than those against Donald Trump. (Source: Cook Report)

Why would the Republicans spend all that money - more than on anyone else - attacking someone who is not a standard bearer for the Democrats? Rhetorical question.

As I previously pointed out to correct you, Nancy Pelosi has been a standard bearer for the Democrats for many years. And she still is.

[NurseJackie]

30. ...

[Tipperary]

14. It is misogyny, pure and simple.

Sickening.

[Johnny2X2X]

21. You're take angers me

Pelosi as Speaker isn't her birthright, I want a debate about it and if she's the obvious choice then stick with her, but people are shouting down anyone who wants to look at all the options and then calling it misogyny is really disappointing.

Whatever gives us the best chance to win in 2020 is what I want, I haven't heard all the arguments yet though.

[Hortensis]

23. My problem is no worthy alternatives are supported.

All of these people so far have as a first and last goal to remove our most valuable and highest ranking woman in the history of American politics. This, in the year of the woman, btw, while we celebrate electing women to power. The irony is intense.

Nancy's one of 4 top congressional leaders, Johnny, but the ONLY one being attacked to take out. This is despite the fact that, if one were to pick one member of our congressional house team who is MOST responsible for our current success, and also the passage of the ACA, the only candidate for that would be Nancy.

She really is indispensable at this time. Steny Hoyer competed for house speaker for a long time and was expected to succeed her. He's been considered to have aged out of the ambition, but perhaps if enough very foolish or malicious people came together to take out Nancy, he might be chosen the new speaker anyway to avoid disaster. But no one is mentioning his name now, or that of any other believed able to quickly grow into her role.

Itm, so what? Just take out a valuable leader, and someone will take her place. In fact, one of the
#FiveWhiteGuys just tweeted that we have LOTS of women who could. If Nancy can do it, obviously...

[Johnny2X2X]

24. Attacks?

I have heard no attacks, period. I have heard people questioning whether or not she is the best choice, why is that considered an attack?

Are you 100% sure she's the best choice when you haven't heard the case for anyone else yet? I like Pelosi, but I haven't heard the case for others yet and I want to. This seems rushed and calls for debate are being shouted down.

I want to hear the case that Pelosi, or any challenger is the best one to lead us for the 2020 elections. Winning is all that matters. This debate hasn't occurred yet and people are acting like it has.

[Me.]

28. You Might Ask Rep. SEan Patrick Maloney

who was never a fan of hers but after this election changed his mind. According to him she formed the winning message for the Dems, provided the money and worked to get them all elected for months.

[Johnny2X2X]

31. So he supports her

Great, I want to hear the case he makes. It's he also calling anyone who wants to discuss this sexist? Is he shouting down anyone who wants to hear all the options?

[Me.]

36. You KNow

I'm picking up, here and on one other thread that you're not a fan. And yes he supports her after he saw her in action over the summer. As for sexist, those suggesting that are very much aware that were she a man this wouldn't be an issue. Schumer leads the DEms in the Senate, he did very little for the election compared to her, we lost seats but no calls for him to step down, in fact, he was re-elected this week. Many of those who support Sanders and Biden for pres say she is too old but they're not too old to run the country. Rep Clyburn said there are racist whisper campaigns against him currently, do you really think there aren't ones about her? Look nobody says you have to like her, certainly, everyone doesn't here on this board, in Congress, and in the general public. But many do because she is the best we have.

[Johnny2X2X]

38. I do like her, a lot

I just want to hear other options. I want to be convinced she gives us the best chance in 2020. It's not like she won't have a major role even if someone else is the Speaker, she will.

Let's have the debate, let's hear all sides.

And above all, it is insensitive to ask these new Congress people to reneg on their campaign promises. Come to a solution that allows them to be able to tell their voters that they held true to their words. There are freshman congresspeople who said they will not support her for Speaker, some of them won by a mere few hundred votes, asking them to go back on their word and not even allow any kind of real debate is asking to lose seats in 2020.

Whatever happened with Shumer has zero bearing on the House Speakership.

[Me.]

39. To The Contrary What Happened With Schumer

is a very good example of the double standard applied when it comes to women. As for the promises made...those rep-elects allowed themselves to be caught in the GOP propaganda net, now they need to start thinking for themselves. There's almost nothing the GOP/Comrade Trump would like better than to get rid of Nancy and there's a reason for that. As for debate, who will she debate? Who is running against her?

[dlk]

32. Your Birthright Description is a Complete Fiction

Pelosi has EARNED the speakership through her work on and off the job, by working to get Dems elected & her tremendous fundraising. The entrenched sexism and ageism seen here & in the media is beyond tiresome.

[Hortensis]

15. Strange indeed when Nancy raised HALF the DNCC money,

well over $700 million, that helped get Democrats elected from districts with mostly moderate and low-income constituencies. Those districts, which include many with rural and/or minority majorities, typically aren't able to donate enough money to defeat Republican opponents these days.

The 2018 Progressive Caucus has about 88 (?) members, I believe, and of those only 4 have taken the pledge to only take small donor money. Only some are in a position to but haven't. The rest would not be in congress without help from the party, and Nancy's support and guidance have been huge factors in getting them elected. Nancy has of course long wanted to achieve public funding of elections, and that of course is in our democracy reform bill.

The intense irony that our most important and effective progressive leader by far is being villified by foolish people who want to advance progressive goals but instead are being used as a tool to defeat them is hardly lost on observers.

Ignorance, misogyny, gullibility, you name it -- every weakness that can be exploited to turn people against themselves is being exploited.

[Botany]

8. I was at the gym last night and CNN was on and the screen crawl said something like:

Coming up next Pelosi's big fight to become speaker. This "big fight" is a nothing burger.

[Me.]

26. Speaking Of Esquire

“Alas, it is my painful duty to report that the #FiveWhiteGuys are led by Seth Moulton, congresscritter from the Sixth Congressional District here in the Commonwealth (God save it!), and a man who has been farting higher than his own arse ever since he got elected in 2014. Moulton ran a strong campaign. He ousted an endangered incumbent who was all tangled in so much family corruption that a Republican pickup of that seat was a distinct possibility—or, at least, as distinct a possibility as was ever enjoyed by a Massachusetts Republican. Almost immediately, Moulton signed on to the challenge to Pelosi's leadership mustered up by the anti-charismatic Tim Ryan of Ohio. Almost immediately, and most spectacularly, Moulton began spending a lot of time in Iowa. This is a fellow who thinks a great deal of his own inherent political gifts.

Now, it seems, they've gotten the band back together again. The #FiveWhiteGuys are Moulton, Ryan, Ed Perlmutter of Colorado, Kurt Schrader of Oregon, and Bill Foster of Oregon, and Bill Foster of Illinois. The driving forces remain Moulton and Ryan, with the latter the putative leader. After an election in which the Democratic Party continues to elect a demographically and politically diverse collection of new House members, Ryan is still insisting that the party needs to "reach out" to angry white men in places like Ohio when, in fact, if the midterms proved anything, it is that the Democratic Party's future is in places like Arizona and Nevada, and even Georgia and Florida, while, except for Sherrod Brown, god bless him, Ohio is a lost cause. It was an outlier even in its own geographic area. There were Democratic—and progressive—victories in Michigan, Wisconsin, Minnesota, and Illinois. Ohio and, yes, Iowa, were loss leaders.

This did not stop Moulton, who declines to challenge Pelosi himself, from spouting off in Roll Call that he and his group have the votes to block Pelosi's elevation to the speakership on the floor of the House—although, as has now become customary, Moulton declines to provide details on exactly how many members of the House have signed on here.

I am willing to concede—indeed, I am devoutly hoping—that this talk is all a bluff. The #FiveWhiteGuys seem to think they can scare Pelosi out of running, which is completely foolish. This is because, if it's not a bluff, and Moulton really has these votes, it almost certainly means that he's cut a deal with some Republicans to get them.”

https://www.esquire.com/news-politics/politics/a25093451/nancy-pelosi-speaker-democrat-opposition-tim-ryan-seth-moulton/

[Guilded Lilly]

10. Absolutely. She deserves to Lead. Nancy Pelosi has proven...

Her value and worth as a leader in the House. She is the stellar choice to be third in line for the Presidency with her experience, know-how and abilities.

Our party just won a sweeping 36+ Seat victory in the House that will literally help us save the destruction of our country. Pelosi is a superb leader to pave the way and define the path for our future leaders in the House. Use HER strength to make US even stronger.

~And yet it has gone pretty much unmentioned by the Press and GOP that Chuck Schumer breezed back into minority power in the failing Senate. No punches thrown. No commentary on his age. No screamed of newer/younger blood. He is not the threat to GOP power that Pelosi is and they know it.

(And Sexism in politics? Damned straight there is. Even on the “by the people, of the people, for the people” side of the aisle.)

[JaneQPublic]

11. It's not about ideology or popularity or age or gender; it's about competence.

[asiliveandbreathe]

35. Exactly - came upon your comment and illustration..Competence -

Just too much common sense there...JaneQPublic......I have been reading along with this push me, pull you, mob mentality...and if not so serious it would be comical...Your comment needs it's own OP..

My mantra, lead, follow, or get the hell out of the way..

[JaneQPublic]

40. Don't worry...

...I tend to repeat myself a lot, so you'll see the comment & meme again.

[dalton99a]

12. Their reasons are absolute bullshit

[ewagner]

13. Agree ....and...

https://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1002&pid=11437704

[mcar]

16. Yes!

The #fivewhiteguys want attention. I hope they don't get any leadership roles.

[leanforward]

18. I'm with Jane Q,

Nancy is effective. I like her after watching her from out here with the masses. Here’s some miscellaneous ramblings. The Speaker is third in line of succession. I’m tired of a bunch of old white guys getting it wrong. There has to be flexibility or agility in their thinking for the greater good. I would be proud to serve her coffee.
Those names opposed to her may have been stump speeches. “Keeping their promise”.
What’s good for the coasts is good for the pecos, is good for Gillette. Everybody has to eat and stay warm

[angrychair]

20. To be clear from the beginning

I have no issue with Pelosi as speaker.

I do freely admit that I have significant heartburn with calls of “bipartisanship” with these bunch of criminals and rightwing nutjobs. I also take issue with her invoking Reagan. I find that approach unappealing and unsettling.
I find zero redeeming qualities in republican philosophy of hate and distrust and selfish narcissism.

[Chickensoup]

22. Every one is entitled to their opinion

Trump.

[ffr]

25. And after January 2nd, maybe more.

[Cary]

27. K&R

Perhaps we have gained some wisdom since 2016?

[brooklynite]

33. Then there's no reason to criticize Democrats advocating for new Leadership...

...since it'll all work out in the end.

[marieo1]

37. Let Nancy Pelosi do her job!!

Nancy Pelosi has fought long and hard for all of us. I wish people would just leave her alone and let her do her job. After all she has done, it's an insult to make her fight for her post. The white males that oppose her should just get over it!!! Before Barack Obama this country had always been run by white men and they've had wars, wars and more wars!!! Now is the time to let gals run the show!!!