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Nancy Pelosi chairs a very different Democratic caucus from the last time she was Speaker of the House. Will she stay together?
UNITED STATES TODAY & # 39; HUI
FERGUSON, Missouri – Nancy Pelosi does not care what you think of her.
The only woman to speak in the House – not one, but twice – advances with her agenda, despite requests from her left flank to act boldly and her right flank to act with caution.
This seems to work until now. Pelosi is eager to report that she has never lost a major vote in the House. This year, it has garnered unanimous or near-unanimous support from Democrats on most of the major laws of the House, although these measures are largely used to convey messages as they are unlikely to be passed. Senate controlled by the GOP.
Last year, Pelosi had been dubbed liberal in San Francisco, but in an exclusive interview with USA TODAY, she adopted the label to show the progressive wing of her party that "I'm going to be in the US." she was one of them, before asking them to head for the center.
"I am a progressive from San Francisco. I think I can have references on the left, as someone who has represented a very liberal city, "Pelosi said in Ferguson, Missouri, last month. "But you have to govern the general public," she added.
USA TODAY spent the day traveling with Pelosi to St. Louis and Ferguson, when she joined Representative Lacy Clay, Missouri, to promote the policies. Democrats are united around: expanding the right to vote, developing jobs and eliminating corruption in government. Even though the trip followed weeks of internal struggles between Democrats and botched messages in Missouri, none of these issues were raised.
Pelosi leads his most diverse caucus to date.
Some progressives, such as the rookie Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., Proudly adhere to socialism, want radical action against climate change and demand a government-run health system. Ocasio-Cortez, a social media star, says she thinks Democrats are too compromised and has been willing to call lawmakers from parties that vote with Republicans.
House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi, with Cathy & Ferguson's owner Cathy Jenkins, representing Mo Lacy Clay, who represents Ferguson, is in the background on March 18, 2019. (Photo: Jack Gruber, United States Today)
The fear of the socialist label
Meanwhile, the Democrats of the competitive districts are going as far as possible from the socialist label. They want to focus on what they have been campaigning for: reducing health care costs, strengthening infrastructure, and stimulating job growth. They are also willing to work with Republicans. Representative Josh Gottheimer, DN.J., co-chair of the bipartite problem-solving caucus, said that in a divided government, "the solution is to get things done, which requires us to work on both sides." # 39; other. "
Pelosi tries to reconcile these points of view. In a nod to each wing of the party, she said Democrats should fight for the "most daring common denominator".
"Although some people have a large number of followers on Twitter, the important thing is that we have a lot of votes in the House," Pelosi said. Ocasio-Cortez has almost 4 million followers on Twitter.
When USA Today asked progressive members how she reacted when she told them that they needed legislation that could be passed, she replied, "They're fine."
"As I say in my own district," you're going to elect 218 people, like in San Francisco, so we can talk, "she said.
The Democrats won the majority in the House in November 2018 by winning seats in districts totally different from those of San Francisco, a deep blue. Voters backed Hillary Clinton en masse against President Donald Trump in the 2016 elections. In his candidacy for reelection in 2018, Pelosi garnered 87% of the vote. But more than two dozen members of the House Democrats represent the districts won by Trump in 2016, some double-digit, including the representative of Minnesota, Collin Peterson, whose district was presided over by 31% of the vote.
Pelosi, 79, holds the speaker's gavel for the second time. She is the most senior woman ever elected in politics. Her colleagues say that being a mother of five and a grandmother of nine shows how she interacts with people. She can be both "in love" and "hard as nails," according to Cheri Bustos, representative of Illinois, who heads Democrats' campaign arm for the reelection of 2020. Bustos has experienced the two sides, as a member of management who is also from a Trump district.
At each meeting in Missouri, Pelosi attempted to create a personal connection with voters and activists. She held the hand of the employee who visited a child health center and lingered long after the handshake during conversations with former prisoners. Later she caused laughter at a public assembly including former prisoners, when she teased their teacher, himself a former inmate, after he compared himself to Denzel Washington.
The Speaker of the House of Representatives, Nancy Pelosi, addressing people at the St. Louis Fathers' Assistance Center, March 18, 2019. (Photo: Jack Gruber, United States Today)
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It has also long been known for its toughness. By December, she had won praise from her party for confronting Trump at the Oval Office because of her demand for a wall along the southern border.
But personal relationships are key to Pelosi's quest for an even more ideologically divided caucus than when she was the last speaker in 2007-2011.
The Democratic party change "is it a problem for her, that she needs to manage? Yes, that's probably the case," said Paul Beck, a professor of political science emeritus at the University of Ottawa. Ohio State University.
According to Beck, it is essential that Pelosi not let "some of these moderate Democrats, many of whom are replacing the Republicans, somehow endangered and very vulnerable to Republican attacks in the 2020 elections."
The Republicans' strategy for targeting the vulnerable Democrats in Congress is centered on their connection to the agenda of progressive leaders such as Ocasio-Cortez.
Many first-year Democrats who toppled their GOP seats in November have moved away from progressive priorities such as medicare for all. Dozens of people have vowed to oppose Pelosi as a spokesman after the Republicans introduced him as a symbol of liberal politics. Pelosi did not seem to take it personally. "Just win, baby," she said in May 2018.
Pelosi told USA TODAY that she managed to keep her caucus together because she included her members and their districts. Observers from both parties say that she knows exactly what the members want. This knowledge allowed her to flatter, threaten and simply to use them until she had the necessary support.
In March, as Democrats awaited the results of Special Adviser Robert Mueller's investigation into Russia's interference in the 2016 election, some progressives were already talking about impeaching Trump. But Pelosi called for caution, saying in the US TODAY that the dismissal would be a "gift" to the president if the Republicans were not part of it. She rejected the claims of some progressives in favor of a stronger stance on Trump's dismissal: "They wanted to dismiss the president since the day of his election."
After Mueller's investigation was concluded that there was no collusion with Russia, most, but not all, Democrats followed Pelosi and put aside the speech on dismissal.
"I think Nancy, in my opinion, is the most talented strategic person I've ever met in politics. If you are in her sights, she is your most formidable opponent and if she is at your side and with you, she is able to do some magic things, "said Joe Crowley, the former caucus chair Democrat, who lost his seat in New York last year. Ocasio-Cortez was the first to be dissatisfied.
Chocolate and bats
Entering the office of Speaker of the House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi, you will find two products from her neighborhood of San Francisco: bowls of Ghirardelli Chocolate (her favorite, black) and a stack of Giants' baseball bats. San Francisco leaning against dark brown furniture TVs broadcasting C-Span signals on the floors of the House and Senate, as well as MSNBC and CNN.
Former New York congressman Steve Israel, a Democrat who has worked closely with Pelosi, compares chocolate and bats to his leadership style.
"We can do it in a soft or hard way. But we are going to do that, "said Israel, who led the House Democrats campaign arm in 2012 and 2014.
When Pelosi arrived at the first stop in the St. Louis area, a visit to the Children's Health Center, Rep. Clay gave him local mint chocolates.
"I like doing things nicely," laughed Clay, when USA TODAY posed questions about Pelosi's strategy. "She will put pressure on you if you do not agree with the direction in which she wants to lead our caucus."
"She can be very persistent and insistent. She does not stop pounding the point, he says.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi settles to visit the Lacy Clay Center for Child Health in St. Louis, Mo. on March 18, 2019, along with Congressman William Lacy Clay, D-Mo . right. Pelosi holds a gift from Clay, which includes chocolates with black mint.- (Photo: Jack Gruber, United States Today)
Pelosi mocked the Israeli metaphor of chocolate and bats. "I'm a sports fan," she said.
There are examples of tactics, until the end of last year. Dozens of candidates and incumbents said they would not support her as a speaker. But she assumed the presidency in January with only 15 defections.
At the end of 2018, Ohio representative Marcia Fudge briefly considered challenging Pelosi's candidacy, but ultimately decided not to do so. She has been appointed chair of a new election subcommittee. On the other hand, long-time Pelosi critic Kathleen Rice of New York pleaded for new leadership and refused to vote for Pelosi. Later, when the former prosecutor lobbied to join the Judiciary Committee, she was blocked by Pelosi and her allies, according to two sources close to the incident.
Mirror Tea Party?
Some Republicans acknowledge that Pelosi has so far managed to get his caucus together.
But based on their own experience, they do not know how long it will last. They suggest that cracks appear that remind them of the rise of the Tea Party on their side – and the headaches that the faction has posed for former Republican Presidents John Boehner and Paul Ryan. (Ohio's Boehner retired early, in part, because of his frustration with the House Freedom extremist caucus, and Wisconsin's Ryan was not running for re-election in 2018.)
"It's similar to what we Republicans did when we were in the majority. You have an ascendant who is very angry, very brutal. Frankly, a little irresponsible in the things that they say. And the base permeates, "said former representative, Ryan Costello, a moderate GOP who retired last year. A democrat now occupies his seat.
"I think it's a bit like groundhog day, but now it's a different color – it's a blue groundhog," Costello said.
Some grassroots progressives are asking Pelosi to submit proposals such as the Green New Deal and Medicare for All, even though they have no chance of passing the GOP-led Senate and being promulgated by Trump.
Alexandra Rojas, executive director of Justice Democrats, a progressive group that helped launch the candidacy of President Ocasio-Cortez, calls Pelosi and other Democratic leaders to "adopt the basic energy that currently exists in the Democratic base. ". someone who is going.
Pelosi said that there was no plan to create the Green New Deal because it was a "list of aspirations". She pointed out that she had created a small committee to deal with the issue and indicated that other panels would work on parts of the strategy. , as well as. House Democrats also introduced a more modest bill that would put the United States back into the Paris climate agreement.
The Rules and Budget Committee will hold hearings on Medicare for All, but Pelosi has no commitment to put it to a vote.
"While I am very supportive of the consolidation of the Affordable Care Act, I simply do not think we will reach the final conclusion without a Medicare for All bill," said Pramila Jayapal, D- Wash, – chairs the Progressive Caucus of Congress. Jayapal added that she wanted to join the Paris climate agreement, but that there was still much to be done to deal with an "urgent crisis".
Speaker of the House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi listens to the Director General of St. Louis Fathers Help Center, Halbert Sullivan, who founded the St. Louis Fathers Help Center on June 18. March 2019. (Photo: Jack Gruber, United States Today)
Jayapal said she wanted to persuade members that progressive politics could be popular in their districts, but "for the most part, I do not believe in shame." She explained that polls conducted by the Progressive Caucus show that many constituents in the districts have won receptive to Medicare for All and other leftist policies.
Rep. Stephanie Murphy, co-chair of the Blue Dogs Moderate Coalition, expressed her skepticism and stated that using "talking points" to sell a progressive program was not the solution to winning seats in moderate districts.
"I have a degree in economics and one of the truisms is that you can find data to support any theory. It depends on how you ask the question, "Murphy said.
"Our members were elected in really tough seats, seats ranging from red to blue, seats won by Trump because they understood their constituents," she said. "Give them the respect they deserve to represent their communities in the best way possible."
The Florida Democrat said moderates were also concerned about health care and the climate. But they want to make sure the bill really has a chance to get through the GOP Senate and the president's office.
"I think we can address these issues by looking at the problem in small pieces," said Murphy.
In Missouri, the day went well. But in Washington, the leaders of Pelosi and Democrats were not so lucky. Internal divisions made the headlines, although House Democrats easily passed their signature priorities.
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Breaking the ranks of firearms
When Democrats approved the first major 25-year firearms verification bill, 26 moderates voted with Republicans to amend the bill to demand the surrender to the government of undocumented immigrants if they tried to buy a gun. Pelosi and the Liberals scolded those who crossed the party lines behind closed doors. Ocasio-Cortez told members that she had alerted leftist activists that 26 Democrats were responsible for passing the amendments, according to two aides present in the room.
When asked about this incident, Mr. Pelosi stated that the GOP amendments, formerly known as "Motions to Renew" and designed to put members of the majority in uncomfortable positions, were simply " procedural "and" nothing worthy of our conversation ".
Just over a week later, all Democrats voted in favor of passing Bill 1, a bill focused on the right to vote and the reform of Congress. But in the days leading up to the vote, the party's message on the law was eclipsed by a controversy sparked by remarks by Minnesota representative Ilhan Omar, who said Israel demanded "allegiance". from American lawmakers. Republicans and some Democrats said the remarks played against anti-Semitic tropes by questioning the loyalty of American Jews.
Jewish members wanted the House to immediately vote on a resolution condemning anti-Semitism. But several progressive members have pleaded for a broader resolution condemning all forms of hatred and have declared that it was unfair to isolate Omar. It took days before the Democrats finally adopted a broad resolution against hate. Omar's name was not included. Some Jewish members were disappointed by what they thought was a diluted measure. Other Democrats have been frustrated by the debate that has lasted so long.
"I would have liked it to act quickly," said Jim Manley, Democratic strategist and former aide to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid. But Manley said he understood why it had taken so long: "Such a diverse caucus must take into account the opinions of everyone," he said.
Pelosi said she thought the resolution had worked out as planned, adding that listening to all members was positive, despite the time it took.
"I think we came out very strong," she said.
Contribute: William Cummings and Christal Hayes
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