And that’s from a member of the
Pelosi shrugs it off.
“I just want them to win their election,” she said of Democrats trying to keep a distance from their chosen leader.
While speakers from both parties have been vilified
in the past, Pelosi, who stands for many of the liberal themes under
attack in the midterm elections, appears to be taking an unusually high
number of strident campaign hits.
“Look, she is very partisan, doesn’t care much for Republicans, she comes from the left wing of her party and she comes from
Pelosi has been featured in more than 400 attack
ads, mostly from Republicans, that have aired more than 130,000 times
coast to coast, according to
“He’s putting
“Had enough of
Pelosi is fighting back by raising buckets of money — more than
If the 70-year-old lawmaker loses the majority, she
loses the speakership after just four years as the first woman to lead
the House, second in the line of succession to the presidency, after
the vice president.
Pelosi remains confident that Democrats will hold
onto the majority and that she will retain her post even though a
number of endangered Democrats on the campaign trail are pledging not
to vote for her as speaker.
“We’re in the game,” Pelosi said recently on “The
Charlie Rose Show.” “We don’t have any intention of losing. … We’re
not thinking in terms of what if.”
While Pelosi’s face or name is just about everywhere
— in TV ads attacking Democratic candidates for being Pelosi puppets
and on a GOP “Fire Pelosi” bus traveling around the country — the
speaker has been keeping a low public profile lately. This month, she
appeared before a friendly audience — the United Steelworkers Union’s
women’s conference in
Although she has been the subject of Republican
campaign attacks before, this year the GOP has made her a favorite
target because of her high-profile role in promoting controversial
legislation, such as the health care overhaul. Some of her fellow
Democrats, especially in red territory, are also trying to steer clear.
In
In
Although some question whether featuring an
unpopular speaker prominently in the campaign has any significant
effect, this year’s attempts to tie candidates to Pelosi appear to be
working, especially in conservative Southern districts, some Congress
watchers said.
Yet,
on Congress at the American Enterprise Institute, said, “Is this going
to be an election where significant numbers of people vote in a
particular way because they want to vote against
Pelosi is viewed favorably by 29 percent of
Americans, her lowest rating since she became speaker and only slightly
better than the lowest point for former Republican Speaker
“While
some benefit on the campaign trail in terms of firing up the Democratic
base to turn out, Pelosi’s subdued favorability among Democrats and
highly negative image among independents suggest she is a far riskier
person for Democratic candidates to be associated with,” according to
Gallup.
“If she were not effective, I don’t think they’d be so anxious to try to take her out,” said Rep.
If Democrats lose the majority, Pelosi could follow the lead of her predecessor, former Republican Speaker
who retired from Congress about a year after his party lost the
majority in 2006. She could also seek to return to the minority leader
position she once held, hoping Democrats would win back the majority in
2012.
But
almost certainly be people in the caucus and in the party who think
that having a leader … so heavily identified with Obama’s first
two-year agenda might not be the way to refashion themselves.”
On the other hand, Cain said, “You can’t imagine
somebody closer to the left who can still manage the party in a
practical, disciplined way the way
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