Quote of the Day: Entitlements

— By Kevin Drum

| Fri Nov. 5, 2010 11:31 AM PDT

From Eric Cantor (R–Virginia), in a letter to his fellow Republicans:

A difficult conversation indeed

Nov 5th 2010, 17:25 by M.S.

IN A letter he sent to Republican colleagues seeking their support for his bid as majority leader, Eric Cantor writes that Congress is going to have to start figuring out how to curb entitlement spending.

Getting our long-term deficit under control will require that we address major entitlement reform.  It is a conversation that we must have, but one that is easier said than done. President Obama, congressional Democrats, and their liberal allies have made it abundantly clear that they will attack anyone who puts forward a plan that even tries to begin a conversation about the tough choices that are needed.

Never let it be said that Eric Cantor lacks gumption. The Republican campaign that ended Tuesday fielded a blizzard of advertisements attacking Democrats for cutting Medicare spending by $500 billion over a decade. In Pennsylvania, Karl Rove and Ed Gillespie's group Crossroads GPS ran attack ads against Democratic Senate candidate Joe Sestaksaying "Sestak voted to gut Medicare—a $500 billion cut." Another Crossroads GPS ad:

California seniors are worried. Barbara Boxer voted to cut spending on Medicare benefits by $500 billion, cuts so costly to hospitals and nursing homes that they could stop taking Medicare altogether. Boxer's cuts would sharply reduce benefits for some and could jeopardize access to care for millions of others, and millions of Americans won't be able to keep the plan or doctor they already have. Check the facts and take action. Call Boxer. Stop the Medicare cuts.

The 60 Plus Group, an organisation funded by...somebody, nobody can figure out who, but whose PR officer is a former National Republican Congressional Committee staffer, ran attack ads against Democratic representative Paul Kanjorski noting that he and other Democrats "cut $500 billion from Medicare". Another 60 Plus Group ad attacks Tim Bishop, a Democratic representative from Pennsylvania, for cutting $500 billion from Medicare, then turns wistful and elegiac: "We may never know why Bishop supported Pelosi over our seniors." Why'd you do it, Tim? Why???

John Boehner, the presumptive new speaker of the House, told the American Enterprise Institute in September that one of his top priorities was to "repeal the $550 billion worth of Medicare cuts; and let’s see how many votes that bill gets in the House and Senate." Mr Cantor himself has spent the past year bashing Democrats for proposing Medicare cuts. Here's the opening line of Mr Cantor's December 18th op-ed in the Washington Times:

This holiday season, the Democrats are making a list and checking it twice: trillions in new spending, $500 billion in new taxes, $500 billion in Medicare cuts...

I would be remiss if I failed to note, along with the New York Times, that the cuts to Medicare we're talking about here are in fact cuts to how much the government will reimburse for relatively expensive, private Medicare Advantage plans. If you have plain-vanilla government Medicare, as 75% of beneficiaries do, this doesn't affect you. These are the easiest entitlement cuts one could imagine making: cuts to government subsidies for private businesses, mainly serving the well-off.

Or maybe I'm wrong about that. Maybe it's easier for politicians to cut the social safety net for poor people than it is to cut subsidies to private businesses that serve the well-off. Poor people don't vote much, let alone fund 501(c)(4)s that run political attack ads. In any case, actions speak louder than words. Mr Cantor's party just won an election with a barrage of attacks on anyone who tried to start a tough conversation on the choices that are needed in entitlement reform, and I find it unlikely that this will lead to a better atmosphere for discussing such choices going forward. A little side box in Mr Cantor's letter contains the following note:

Fast Fact: Over two-thirds of Republican voters believe the budget can be balanced without reducing spending on Social Security or Medicare.

What could have given them that idea?

Speaker Nancy Pelosi Running for House Democratic Leader

In the wake of her party's devastating midterm losses on Tuesday, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi announced Friday afternoon that she will run to stay on as leader of her party in the 112th Congress.

Although Pelosi was widely expected to step down from her leadership position immediately after the elections, she spent Wednesday and Thursday reaching out to colleagues to assess her strength within the Democratic caucus. Pelosi allies in the House also began placing phone calls to gauge her chances in a leadership race, Politics Daily learned.

Believing that she has enough backing, Pelosi sent a letter to her House colleagues on Friday announcing that she will run for minority leader when members choose their leaders later this month.

"Our work is far from finished. As a result of Tuesday's election, the role of Democrats in the 112th Congress will change, but our commitment to serving the American people will not," Pelosi wrote. "Based on (my) discussions, and driven by the urgency of protecting health care reform, Wall Street reform, and Social Security and Medicare, I have decided to run."

As news of Pelosi's surprise decision rocketed around Capitol Hill, Republicans delighted in the possibility that she might stay on as the leader of the House Democrats. As Pelosi's approval rating dropped to a historic low before the midterms, she became a potent target for GOP attack ads and a lucrative foil for Republican fundraising efforts.

"The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result," said Ken Spain, the communications director for House Republicans' campaign committee. "Of course, if House Democrats are willing to sacrifice more of their members in 2012 for the glory of Nancy Pelosi, we are happy to oblige them."

Pelosi's power has always come from the liberal members of the House Democratic caucus, most of whom retained their seats after Tuesday's elections. 

In addition to loyalty from the left, Pelosi supporters point to several reasons she is the leader the party cannot afford to lose, including her vast fundraising network, her history building the House majority in 2006, her goodwill among liberal interest groups, and her mastery of the redistricting process, which Democrats will face next cycle. Since 2002, Pelosi has raised $231 million for her fellow Democrats.

"Was Tuesday bad? Yes," said a senior Democratic aide, who spoke on the condition of anonymity. "Was it bad enough to wash away everything she's done for the party? I'm not so sure." 

Related: Nancy Pelosi Has 'No Regrets' Following Midterm Rout
Experts: Pelosi Among Greatest House Speakers
Pelosi won't run unopposed. Rep. Health Shuler (D-N.C.) has announced that he'll challenge her, arguing that Pelosi is not the right leader for a Democratic bid to retake the majority. "If there's not a viable alternative -- like I said all along -- I can go recruit moderate members to run in swing districts," Shuler told Roll Call Thursday. "In that situation, I could do it better than she could, and that's what it's going to take. It's going to take moderate candidates to win back those seats."

Shuler was one of several moderate Blue Dog Democrats who distanced himself from Pelosi during his campaign for re-election as her approval ratings plummeted, even vowing not to support her for speaker again should the party retain the House. But more than half of the Blue Dog coalition went down in defeat Tuesday, and along with them, any serious movement to replace Pelosi with a more centrist Democratic leader such as Rep. Steny Hoyer.

Hoyer, now the second-ranking Democrat in the House, has long had the backing of moderate and conservative members. But Hoyer has said he would not challenge Pelosi and instead is considering a run to keep the Democrats' No. 2 job in the next Congress. 

In another surprise announcement, Rep. Jim Clyburn of South Carolina announced Friday he will for the same spot Hoyer is contemplating, a move that could set up a leadership battle royal between the two senior Democrats. 

With her decision Friday, Pelosi is taking the opposite path of former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, who told his colleagues in Nov. 1998 that he would not only resign as speaker, but would leave the House entirely after he presided over a loss of five GOP seats in the 1998 midterm elections and faced a brewing challenge to his leadership from fellow Republicans. 

"I'm willing to lead, but I'm not willing to preside over people who are cannibals," Gingrich famously told a group of close colleagues. "My only fear would be that if I tried to stay, it would just overshadow whoever my successor is."

Gingrich's successor, Dennis Hastert, chose a different path after his party lost the House in 2006, announcing immediately after the elections that he would remain in Congress to represent his Illinois district, but would not try to keep his post as the Republican leader. 

Although Gingrich and Hastert took themselves out of the leadership equation after electoral losses, history is full of speakers who remained as head of their caucuses through good times and bad.

The most familiar example for political buffs may be Texas Democrat Sam Rayburn, the longest-serving House speaker. He held the post three separate times and remained as Democratic minority leader between his speakerships when his party lost its House majority in 1947 and 1953.

Filed Under: Nancy Pelosi, Congress

Tagged: 2010 Elections, House Democrats, House minority leader

Pelosi will seek to stay as House Dem leader

Nation's first female House speaker tweets intention to keep her spot

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi of Calif., on her way to a television interview on Capitol Hill in Washington on Wednesday.

WASHINGTON — Despite widespread complaints about massive losses that will put Democrats in the minority, Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Friday she will try to stay on as leader of her party in the House.

The decision exposed a rift between Pelosi's liberal allies and the dwindling number of moderate Democrats, who feel besieged and eager for substantive and symbolic changes in direction after Tuesday's Republican rout. It also is likely to trigger leadership battles farther down the ladder.

Pelosi, the nation's first female speaker, said many colleagues urged her to seek the post of minority leader in the new Congress that convenes in January. That will be the Democrats' top post, because Republicans, who grabbed more than 60 Democratic-held seats Tuesday, will elect the next speaker. It will be John Boehner of Ohio, who will swap titles with Pelosi if she succeeds in her bid.

"We have no intention of allowing our great achievements to be rolled back," Pelosi, 70, said in a letter to her colleagues.

Allies said Pelosi would not make the bid unless she felt certain she had the votes. House members elect their respective party leaders at the start of each new Congress. Her caucus is more heavily liberal now that many moderate Democrats lost on Tuesday.

Pelosi: 'I am running for Dem leader'



Several moderates, and even some longtime Pelosi supporters, had openly criticized her in their re-election campaigns, and had urged her to step aside. Pelosi's Friday announcement caught some off guard.
Rep. John Yarmuth, D-Ky., had told a Louisville TV station on Thursday, "as good a leader as she has been, I don't think she's the right leader to take us forward."

He reversed field Friday after she announced her intentions. Pelosi "has proven time and time again that she is able to build consensus in a caucus comprised of members from all across the ideological spectrum," he said.
Other House Democrats held their ground.

Rep. Joe Donnelly, D-Ind., said he was "disappointed that Speaker Pelosi is going to seek the position of Minority Leader." North Carolina Rep. Larry Kissell's office said he hopes Pelosi "will change her mind and step aside."

Reps. Dan Boren of Oklahoma and Mike Ross of Arkansas also said they opposed Pelosi.
They were among the many House Democrats whom Republicans criticized for their loyalty to the California liberal, who was a forceful though generally well-liked speaker. During her four years as Speaker, Pelosi used all her political muscle to enact contentious measures such as President Barack Obama's health care overhaul.
Republicans were giddy in learning the news.

Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele expressed delight when told of Pelosi's move. In a meeting with reporters, Steele put his hands over his head and applauded.

The case for Pelosi to remain House Democratic leader


"My breath is taken away by that announcement," he said, grinning.
In a statement, White House spokesman Bill Burton said the president appreciates the work of Pelosi and the Democratic leadership team "who have been great partners in moving the country forward" and he looks forward to working with them.

Pelosi's announcement set off a likely battle for the No. 2 Democratic leadership job, now held by Majority Leader Steny Hoyer of Maryland. The party's third-ranking leader, House Whip Jim Clyburn of South Carolina, said he will try to keep the job, which will become the second in command when Democrats become the minority.

The case against Pelosi


If Clyburn — the House's highest-ranking African-American — prevails, Hoyer would be forced out of the leadership ranks for the first time in many years.

Hoyer said he would make a decision after consulting with lawmakers, adding, "I have received an outpouring of support from Democratic colleagues who have told me that I should remain in our party's leadership."

Hoyer is more centrist than Pelosi, and the two have long had a cordial but somewhat wary relationship.
Pelosi's bid presumably will keep her atop the Democratic caucus, which will number about 190 members next year. But it would mark a big drop from being speaker, which carries tremendous power to influence legislation and is second only to the vice president in the line of presidential succession.

Among those defending her was Rep. Jesse Jackson, Jr., D-Ill. "We're in a political storm," he said, "but we don't need to adopt an 'any leader in a storm' mentality."
Several Democratic lawmakers in conservative districts had vowed to oppose Pelosi as speaker, but some of them lost their re-election bids all the same.

One survivor, Rep. Heath Shuler of North Carolina, had said he might challenge Pelosi because the party needs a more moderate leader. Shuler noted that he lost his job as Washington Redskins quarterback in 1997 after the team performed poorly.

As the magnitude of Tuesday's election losses sunk in, even some longtime supporters of Pelosi said she needed to step aside as the party leader.

"I voted for everything she asked me to vote for," said Rep. Albio Sires, D-N.J. "You know, sometimes in this business it's difficult to know when to move on."
"With all the losses that we had with governors and all the redistricting that's going to be done, we don't need the target," Sires said, referring to the once-a-decade House redistricting process about to begin nationwide.

If Pelosi remains as the Democrats' House leader, it's possible the party will absorb historic election losses without making significant leadership changes. In the Senate, Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., will keep his post.

Pelosi's decision also may enable Republicans to keep demonizing her as an emblem of Democratic liberalism, as they did in so many campaigns this fall.

Copyright 2010 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Representative Representitive Nancy Pelosi has announced via Twitter that she will seek the post of House minority leader after Republicans take control of the House of Representatives in January.

Video: Pelosi announces run for House minority leader

Glen Greenwald and Lawrence O'Donnell Debate on Morning Joe

We're Still at War:

 Photo of the Day for November 5, 2010

Fri Nov. 5, 2010 2:30 AM PDT

A U.S. Army CH-47 chinook helicopter from 16th Combat Aviation Brigade is delivering food and supplies for flood relief in the Khoistan Region, Pakistan on October 28, 2010. U.S. Army photo by Sgt. Jason Bushong.

Will Pelosi's Leadership Bid Help the Dems?

— By Suzy Khimm

| Fri Nov. 5, 2010 11:54 AM PDT

Speaker Nancy Pelosi announced via Twitter that she will be running for Democratic minority leader of the next Congress. The move stunned many in Washington who had expected her to step down from the party leadership after Tuesday's massive Democratic wipeout in the House. Traditionally, congressional leaders have bowed out after losing the majority in either chamber of Congress, prompting widespread speculation that one of Pelosi's more moderate colleagues would take her place. But Pelosi's liberal supporters have lobbied for her to stay on, and her candidacy effectively quashes any real competition for the post. Current majority leader Steny Hoyer says he will not challenge her. And though Blue Dog Heath Shuler has launched a quixotic bid to challenge Pelosi, the junior member is not seen as a threat, particular as progressives now dominate the Democratic caucus. So the path for her new leadership bid is clear.
But will the return of Pelosi help the Democrats? Detractors argue that the Speaker helped embolden the tea party right and accelerate the GOP's return to power, concluding that she'll continue to be a liability for a deflated Democratic Party. Pelosi is certainly one of the most despised politicians in America today, in terms of favorability ratings: as the face of Obama's Democratic Congress, her image was plastered all over anti-Democratic ads throughout the midterms. She was arguably the single biggest reason that health care reform passed the House, bringing it back from the dead after other Democratic leaders had all but written off its passage following Scott Brown's upset win in January. Pelosi also forced members to take votes on measures like cap-and-trade that had a dim chance of passing the Senate before the midterms. Since the GOP used the Democratic agenda to scare voters into supporting them, the argument goes, the party needs a fresh start.
But for essentially the same reasons, Pelosi's return could help revitalize the Democrats by giving the party's disillusioned liberal base a reason to get excited again. "Speaker Pelosi's decision to run for leader is the first bold move we've seen from Democrats since the election," Stephanie Taylor, co-founder of Progressive Change Campaign Committee, wrote in a statement. Liberal activists argue that Democrats did themselves no favors by running away from the major accomplishments that Pelosi and other party leaders had shepherded through Congress. Even Blue Dog members who voted against major Democratic legislation and tried to keep the axis of Pelosi-Reid-Obama lost their seats, leaving only a tiny handful of conservative Democrats left in the House. In the absence of a strong message that sold the Democrats' accomplishments to the public, the Republicans succeeded in demonizing the opposition.
In the aftermath of this year's rout, Democrats will need to redefine themselves if they want to revive the party. And with Pelosi poised to be at the helm, the House's Democratic minority will assuredly try to push the party to embrace, not shun, its liberal identity.

Eric Cantor Announces Intention to Stand for Election as House Majority Leader

MSNBC Suspends Keith Olbermann Over Campaign Donations

Greg Mitchell

November 5, 2010         

Just hours after Politico dug up the fact that MSNBC host Keith Olbermann, a few days ago,  had donated to three Democrats running for office this week, the cable news network suspended the newsman/commentator without pay indefinitely.


A New York Times report just posted suggests that an NBC executive indicated that this was not a step toward terminating Olbermann.
Chris Hayes of The Nation was asked to host tonight's show, but the Times subsequently reported that the invitation has been rescinded.
It's not clear if MSNBC policy is no donations at all for top staffers or all staffers, or only donations that are "approved," or what.  The Olbermann case has an added twist that he interviewed one of the candidates on air just before sending his campaign money, and that he anchored Election Night coverage.
Liberal bloggers were quick to point out that MSNBC's Pat Buchanan made at least five donations to candidates in recent years.  He is a contributor, not a host/anchor, however.    MSNBC's Joe Scarborough, once and current host, donated $4200 to House candidate in 2006.  It recently came to light that Fox's Sean Hannity, and his wife, each gave $5000 to Michele Bachmann.  Neil Cavuto has also donated to candidates.
Greg Sargent at the Washington Post raises the question: Did Olbermann even violate the network's policy?   Activists are already circulating petitions and jamming NBC phone lines.
Olbermann has not yet responded to the suspension but earlier he had acknowledged the donations, saying they were his first, and hinting that this was not so bad compared to Fox practically fundraising for candidates on its nightime programs.  Some of his fans worry that since he has sometimes clashed with top NBC execs they will use this episode as an excuse to fire him -- a la the Juan Williams / NPR episode.
Interesting take by Jeff Bercovici at Forbes:  "Another question in all this is whether the looming acquisition of NBC Universal by Comcast played any role in [MSNBC President Phil] Griffin’s response. Whether he was disparaging his colleagues in public or blurring the roles of anchor and commentator, Olbermann has always required a great deal of special care and handling, and Griffin has always been careful to give it to him.  But with the merger now facing a potentially difficult approval process in a Washington suddenly swarming with Republican lawmakers, NBC can hardly afford to be giving ammunition to its conservative critics."
Andy Borowitz tweets:  "MSNBC's new motto: "Lean Forward, so we can kick your ass out of the building."
More to come, stay tuned here.
Greg Mitchell's award-winning book The Campaign of the Century and the birth of media politics has just been published in a  new editon. 

What is the difference, they can't effect the vote and they are like anyone else who would want to donate. I hope that he comes back i love watching him, and why does certain members of the press get away with donating especially fox news.  I bet they have more donations then is reported.  And this was Keith's first known donation.  Gee whiz this stinks.

The case against Pelosi

From NBC's Luke Russert
If Nancy Pelosi does indeed decide to leave the Democratic leadership, it’s expected that she’ll retire from Congress. Current Majority Leader Steny Hoyer would become minority leader. Jim Clyburn would stay on as minority whip and the Democratic caucus chairman would fall to John Larson, Chris Van Hollen, or Xavier Becerra.
This is the case for Nancy Pelosi to move on, per conversations with Democratic aides and some Democratic members who believe she should leave the leadership.
1. Going forward, Pelosi is -- pick your word -- radioactive, toxic, or damaged goods. Last Tuesday’s election results were a total repudiation of her policies and style. The buck has to stop somewhere. Her unpopularity around the country -- and especially among independents -- would be a drag on the party heading into 2012 and a very important presidential election. Not only would she kill any chances of Democrats retaking the House, but she also would hurt President Obama’s ability to work with the GOP over the next two years. The Obama-Pelosi branding hurt many candidates in Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Virginia -- it’s not something the White House nor Democrats running in conservative leaning districts need again.
2. Pelosi staying will severely divide the party. Moderates like Heath Shuler (D-NC) and even liberals like John Yarmuth (D-KY) have said that she’s not the best person to “take the party forward.” Many rank-and-file members are of this mindset. Democrats need to be united when they are in the minority, much like the GOP was over the last two years. A House Democratic civil war would be disastrous.
3. With Pelosi as minority leader, it could prove difficult for the party to recruit moderate candidates to challenge Republicans in conservative-leaning districts that sent Democrats to Congress in 2006 and 2008. Moderates won’t want to be associated with Pelosi and party will not be able to compete in swing districts.
4. House Democrats desperately need a fresh voice. Pelosi has been in the Democratic leadership since 2002. Her take-no-prisoners leadership style -- while delivering on key legislation -- is not conducive to working with the GOP and improving the party’s standing going forward. People want their leaders to work to together, not be consistently combative. A new, more moderate leader like Hoyer, could make the Democratic Party seem less liberal and less polarizing -- exactly what they need right now.
5. Pelosi can retire as the most powerful woman in the history of American politics -- as of the most powerful speakers of all time. For her to go into the minority could only tarnish her legacy. Why put herself through the strains of being -- once again -- the Democratic minority leader?

White House open to extending tax cuts

I know that what ever is decided it has to be weighted at both ends. Obama does not want the middle class (main street) to have to pay higher taxes right now, so is the rich get a short wind fall we will have to chuck it up to a win on both sides. It is the idea of adding to the debt because of the Republicans.          

By CQ Staff

Key tax writers and congressional leaders are keeping their powder dry as the White House sends signals that it is open to a full extension of the soon-to-expire 2001 and 2003 tax cuts.
Following the Republican victory in the House and gains in the Senate on Tuesday, President Obama said that it was imperative for Congress to resolve the tax issue in the post-election lame-duck session and that his primary goal is making sure the tax cuts for middle-income families do not expire, as scheduled, on Dec. 31.
Unlike his previous statements on the issue, he did not express opposition to also extending the upper-income tax rates, as Republicans want — a shift that appears to reflect the balance of power set to take hold in January and growing GOP leverage.
On Thursday, White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs told reporters that Obama is open to extending the upper-income rates if that is the only way to ensure that the tax rate for families making less than $250,000 do not expire.
Republicans and some Democrats have discussed a one- or two-year extension of all the tax cuts as a favored option.
Rep. Dave Camp of Michigan, the top Republican on the Ways and Means Committee, who is slated to become chairman in January, was cautious in a statement Thursday.
“I take any signal that the President may be backing off his pledge to raise taxes on small businesses as a good sign, but we have to see where this discussion goes,” Camp said in a statement. “The uncertainty about how high taxes will go next year is already costing us jobs, and it was a mistake for Congress not to have already addressed the 2001 and 2003 rates as well as AMT [alternative minimum tax], the extenders and a host of other tax provisions. The best thing we could do for families and job creation is to extend the current rates as soon as possible for as long as possible.”
A key question, however, is whether House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., and other liberals who oppose extending the top rates will agree to advance legislation that extends all of the tax cuts in order to spare Obama the political pain of a broad tax increase on Jan. 1.
There are plenty of House Democratic moderates who would support a temporary extension of all the tax cuts — and many of them lost their re-election bids Tuesday night.
In a statement Thursday, Ways and Means Chairman Sander M. Levin, D-Mich., said Congress must address middle-class tax cuts, but left the question of the upper-rate cuts unanswered.
“The most important issues facing the American people and the U.S. Congress are the urgent need to create jobs and economic growth, maintain tax cuts for hardworking middle-class families, and extend unemployment benefits for the millions of Americans continuing to look for work,” Levin said. “We as a Congress must come together to ensure these families and the small businesses which fuel our economy have the resources they need to help our economy recover.”
Senate Democrats have been planning to take the lead on dealing with the tax cut extension, but caucus members remain divided on whether to extend all the tax cuts or just the middle-income cuts, and over how to deal with issues like the taxation of dividends and capital gains.
Jim Manley, a spokesman for Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., said Thursday that Reid “hasn’t made any decisions yet on next steps. He needs to talk to his caucus and the White House, along with Senate Republicans, about next steps.”
While Democrats will retain control of the Senate in 2011, Reid’s majority will shrink from 59 to no more than 53 seats, depending on whether Patty Murray, D-Wash., wins her re-election bid, which is still too close to call.
-- Joseph J. Schatz, CQ Staff

The case for Pelosi to remain House Dem leader

From NBC's Luke Russert
If Nancy Pelosi wants to remain House Democratic leader, there will be a game of musical chairs in the leadership: Jim Clyburn (D-SC), the Dems' whip, has indicated that he would like to stay in the leadership. Therefore, current No. 2 Steny Hoyer, who is seen as more moderate, would either have to challenge Clyburn (not ideal for the party), be relegated to a lesser position, or simply leave leadership. Under the latter scenario, the No. 3 position of caucus chairman would go to Chris Van Hollen (D-MD) or Xavier Beccarra (D-CA). In essence, Pelosi could eliminate her chief rival within the Democratic Leadership and be surrounded by dutiful surrogates.
The following case for Pelosi to remain as House leader comes after long conversations with senior Democratic aides who believe Pelosi will stay on as minority leader of the House Democratic Caucus. (Note: We'll run the case against Pelosi in a following dispatch.)
1. Pelosi is the best fundraiser for the House Democrats outside of President Obama and President Clinton. She has raised more money than any of her colleagues and built a diverse fundraising network of both large and small donors. Her efforts in collecting donations have allowed Democrats to compete in numerous conservative-leaning districts from 2006 to present day. Her fundraising network just couldn’t be passed over to Hoyer. If she leaves, the Democrats will leave a lot of money on the table.
2. Pelosi, along with Rahm Emanuel, is seen by many within the party as the mastermind behind the 2006 and 2008 election strategy that gave Democrats their largest House gains in over a decade. Many feel she could rebound in 2012 and deliver the 20-plus seats needed to retake the majority in the House after the GOP makes unpopular spending cuts such as unemployment insurance.
3. Under Pelosi, the Democrats were actually able to pass historic legislation that had eluded them for years. Pelosi had the clout to tell liberals that the public option would die in the health-care bill, and the ability to tell the pro-choice caucus not to be worried about abortion rights being stripped away in the final bill. She’s the best vote-getter the party has, and the best at bringing many diverse groups of people together. If she leaves, they splintering within the party becomes too great and hurts it going forward into 2012.
4. Many liberals and progressives do not want to compromise on their principles to appease Republicans. They see no problem in doing what the GOP did over the last two years that is being the “Party of No” out of principle. If this is the direction that liberals and progressives want to go, Pelosi is a much better leader than Hoyer. There is fear that Hoyer would be too accommodating to the GOP and to K Street influence.
5. Why should Pelosi be the only leader to fall on the sword after the disastrous results for Democrats on Tuesday? The president is not shaking up his team. Harry Reid will return to the Senate, a Senate that couldn’t pass many House bills that liberals and progressives feel could have helped their election prospects. And Pelosi has worked harder than any other Democrat leader and earned the right to leave on her own terms. In no way does she need to placate moderates by stepping down.
6. Finally, part of Pelosi wanting to stay is personal. She and many within in her caucus feel that she’s the best person at the table for House Democrats. While the media play up the need for her to leave -- as do some self-serving moderates -- eventually there is no better voice to lead an aggressive minority party that will put the GOP on the record as being against the middle class and being pro-big businesses and the wealthy.