House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, beset by a growing revolt within the Democratic Party, has tried to justify her persistence in remaining in the House leadership. However, an increasing number of democrats are demanding that she step aside and make way for younger leaders.
Ironically, Pelosi’s staunchest defender turns out to be President Donald Trump. Indeed, Republicans, seeing the string of political disasters that have occurred under her watch as a feature and not a bug, have rallied to Pelosi’s defense with a hashtag campaign #IStandWithNancy.
‘I am worth the trouble’
Pelosi declared herself “worth the trouble” and called herself both a “master legislator” and a “strategic, politically astute leader.” Many Democrats have started to dispute both self-evaluations.
Rep. Kathleen M. Rice, D-New York has declared that Pelosi has been a “great leader, but like every leader, in time immemorial, it’s time for people to know when to go.” The growing sentiment is that the representative from San Francisco, at age 77, has outlived her usefulness.
The problem with replacing Pelosi
The problem with easing Pelosi out of power is that the next in line for the Democratic leader is Minority Whip Steny Hoyer. Unfortunately, Hoyer, at age 78, is even older than Pelosi and is thus considered part of the problem of the graying of the Democratic Party.
However, as of this writing, no other obvious candidate to replace Pelosi exists. That situation means that if Pelosi goes, a multisided leadership fight will result that would tear apart the House Democratic caucus.
What sort of leader should replace Pelosi? Should that person be a relatively centrist, establishment type willing to work deals with the Republican majority?
Or should the new leader be a firebrand from the Bernie Sanders wing of the party, ready to go to the barricades to fight the GOP with everything he or she has?
The Republicans watch with bemusement
In the meantime, the Republicans are looking upon the growing chaos that is consuming the Democratic Party with a sense of bemusement.
If the Democrats constituted a coherent opposition with an alternate agenda, they might be able to make a little trouble. However, the Democrats have been reduced to opposing everything and hammer the Russia issue too frequently that voters are starting to tune them out.
A big fight to replace Pelosi will only deepen the sense that the Democrats do not have a clue about how to do politics in the age of Trump. As a result, almost by default, the Democratic Party may be consigned to the wilderness until it can figure out what its real purpose is.
