On cue, many adopted the line taken by talk radio’s Rush Limbaugh. Despite the Democrats’ takeover of Congress, the party had a tiger by the tail. CBS’ Bob Schieffer put it succinctly: “The problem that Nancy Pelosi is going to have is not so much with the Republican White House, but with her own party. These Democrats that were elected last night are conservative Democrats. They are not like some of the liberal firebrands that are in the House right now.”
Could Pelosi, a known woman, pull it off ? On the same day Democrats unanimously elected her speaker of the House—the highest-ranking woman in U. S. history—pundit chatter focused upon the “stunning” defeat of Rep. John Murtha, her preferred candidate for majority leader.
Was Pelosi’s leadership doomed before it started ? New York Times columnist Maureen Dowd accused her of “throw like a girl” by “making her first move based on relationships and past slights rather than strategy” —a characterization more reflective of her own preoccupations than Pelosi’s.
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