Pelosi claims to have votes, but presidential race continues | New policies

By LISA MASCARO and KEVIN FREKING, Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) – Democrats won the majority. Now, they just need a Speaker of the House.

The battle over Nancy Pelosi's bid for the hammer intensified on Friday as Democrats left Washington for the Thanksgiving holiday, a troubling weekend for an otherwise triumphant week, which welcomed a new historic class. arriving at Capitol Hill and getting ready to take control.

Pelosi was certain that she was going to speak again, reviving her role as the first woman to brandish the hammer. But his opponents were just as confident of having the votes to stop him.

For the moment, it is a group of disaffected Democrats, mainly male-led, who oppose the nationwide wave of Pelosi allies. While a test vote was taking place at the end of November and at least one potential Pelosi challenger was running, the Democrats were facing the sad prospect of internal strife over the January 3 presidential vote, which had been dragging on for weeks, with no definite end.

"I think chaos is good if it's productive – I think chaos is bad if it's too disturbing and it divides us too much," said Pramila representative Jayapal, D -Wash., Co-Chair of the Progressive Caucus of Congress, whose leaders were optimistic after meeting Pelosi this week.

"We do not have a lot of time," Jayapal said. "We have to give the vision of who we are as a party and what we are fighting for, so it must happen very, very quickly."

Pelosi had to work on the phone from California after meeting in private on Friday with newly-elected Democrats, who could play a crucial role in his candidacy for the position of Speaker of the House.

Freshmen entering and leaving Pelosi's majestic office, said they had good meetings with the leader, though few said the talks had changed in order to vote in favor of her. support for the presidency.

New elected representative Abigail Spanberger, of Virginia, said that she had had a "wonderful talk" about her district's priorities, but that she "will not vote for Chief Pelosi".

"It's not about her, but about the will of a new leadership," said Spanberger, a former CIA member who defeated Republican Tea Party representative Dave Brat, in the suburbs of Richmond. "There is nothing she can say, because the decision does not concern her."

Another newly-elected Democrat, New Jersey representative Jeff Van Drew, said he had had a "nice" meeting, but that Pelosi remained no, as an orator. He is one of 17 Democrats who signed a letter opposing her. Van Drew stated that they had discussed his districts and the committees on which he wished to sit. "I do not feel under pressure," he said.

During a key session, Pelosi also met for 45 minutes the representative Marcia Fudge, D-Ohio, potential rival of the presidency, who stated that the two men had "a very open and frank discussion, including on" the feeling in the caucus of people who feel left out and left behind ".

Fudge said that she would probably decide after the Thanksgiving break if she would run.

"To her credit, she wanted to know what my concerns were," said Fudge. "What she asked me was, basically, how we could get to a point where I'm supportive."

A question for some Democrats is what Pelosi means exactly when she says she intends to become a leader of the transition, a bridge to a new generation. She has been running the party for 15 years.

"We talked about succession planning," said Fudge. "I think it's something that our caucus is interested in knowing."

If this was the responsibility of the majority of the Democratic Party, Pelosi would win the presidency. They see her as a competent and experienced leader, ready to confront President Donald Trump and respect his priorities.

Pelosi, 78, entered history when she became the first female Speaker of the House of Representatives in 2007. She took office after the Democrats took control of the House during Mid-term elections of the second term of former President George W. Bush. With President Barack Obama, she played a crucial role in passing the Affordable Care Act in 2010.

She seems to be winning the away match with her candidacy, amassing the endorsements of a whiskey from the country's Democrats. In the Capitol, she enjoys the support of influential lawmakers such as the representative of Georgia, John Lewis, and the support of some newly elected freshmen.

On Friday, the Brady campaign for the prevention of gun violence was added to the list, as did Gabby Giffords, the former Arizona congressman who was seriously injured during the weekend. a shooting in his district and who voted against Pelosi as president.

"There is no one else we would trust," said Kris Brown, co-chair of the Brady campaign.

The domestic debate is overflowing at the national level, especially on social media, where Democratic activists publicly criticize Rep. Seth Moulton, representative of D-Mass., Representative Tim Ryan, representative of D-Ohio and others people leading the campaign to hunt Pelosi.

A coalition of liberal groups has sounded the alarm against the overthrow orchestrated by mostly centrist democrats who want to prevent San Franciscan from being the party's face.

MoveOn.org noted that his work had passed the health care law and said: "Dems must reject attempts to undo it and move the caucus right."

It is not lost on the supporters that a group of mostly men leads the effort to oust him. On the list of the 17 names that signed a letter against her, there are only three women.

"We should not let a small group of white and moderate men sabotage her.We support Nancy Pelosi as Speaker of the House," tweeted Indivisible, the group formed after the 2016 election against the program of Trump and made up of activists across the country.

Pelosi has already weathered the challenges, but this is perhaps the biggest threat to date.

With a narrow Democratic majority, which now has 231 seats, it does not have many ways to get the 218 votes needed if all Republicans vote against it, as planned. Some races in the House remain undecided and the Democratic majority could increase slightly.

If lawmakers are absent or simply vote "present", it is possible that the calculations change in favor of Pelosi, which means that she would need fewer than 218 votes to get the absolute majority.

Associate Press editors Alan Fram, Matthew Daly and Mary Clare Jalonick contributed to this report.

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