Fight for House speaker explodes into national political campaign

[DonViejo]

By Elise Viebeck, Mike DeBonis and Erica Werner November 17 at 7:45 PM

Music legend Barbra Streisand retweeted a list of Rep. Nancy Pelosi’s biggest legislative achievements. Film director Rob Reiner called her “the smartest, toughest strategic thinker in our party.” And tennis champ Martina Navratilova wondered aloud why Pelosi’s job was at risk but her Senate counterpart’s position was in no such trouble.

“Go figure,” Navratilova tweeted. “A man loses and keeps his place, a woman wins and gets booted?!?”

While congressional leadership fights have historically revolved around insular matters such as committee assignments and rules changes, the battle over who will lead the newly empowered House Democrats has exploded into a national political campaign.

At stake is not merely the House speakership, a job second in line to the presidency, but who will emerge as the country’s most high-profile counterpoint to President Trump — who will set the strategy for investigating him, who will lead the opposition to his agenda, and who will be the face of the Democratic Party ahead of the 2020 campaign.

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https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/fight-for-house-speaker-explodes-into-national-political-campaign/2018/11/17/afc17ae8-e9cf-11e8-b8dc-66cca409c180_story.html

[Taraman]

1. How much of this is a media creation?

Democrats are in disarray!

I don’t feel in disarray, other than ongoing Trump effect.

[Stinky The Clown]

3. 98%

Maybe more

[still_one]

9. I beg to differ, I think it is closer to 99.999999999999999999999999999%

[Tom Rinaldo]

2. It is a decidedly one sided fight

I am counting the hours until Nancy's opponents realize that their ambition is only cutting their own throats and start looking for a way to climb down from that limb that they got themselves caught out on. Nancy is wise enough to let them do so while preserving some face if they read the handwriting on the wall and retreat soon enough.

There is no way the Democratic caucus will put forth a different candidate for Speaker than Pelosi and there is no way in hell the Democratic electorate will stand for Democrats in the House allowing a Republican to win the Speakership.

[lkinwi]

4. Explodes? Really?

[SunSeeker]

5. Idiotic headline.

It is shit like this that made me decide not to keep paying $10/month for their online subscription.

[MontanaMama]

6. The media needs a horse race.

The same media that downplayed our blue wave.

[treestar]

7. Who is the opponent?

Very strange fight.

[PubliusEnigma]

8. No it hasn't, but that won't stop the flames from being fanned.