Nancy Pelosi Is Good

With all respect to Brian Leiter, my esteemed dissertation advisor, trying to punish Nancy Pelosi for the Democrats' inability to stop the Iraq War is deeply confused. Pelosi was on the right side of things from the beginning, having voted against the war back when Dick Gephardt made the disastrous decision to give Bush the war resolution he wanted. She's made a number of effective moves since then, most notably showcasing ex-Marine Jack Murtha's conversion to the antiwar side as the way to push a resolution withdrawing troops from Iraq. Her first two years as House Democratic Leader ended with a 30-seat victory, control of the House shifting to Democrats, and her ascension to the speakership.

So why aren't we out of Iraq yet?  Well, take a look at how the House voted on the 2007 bill to keep funding the war. We had 280 yes votes, 86 of which were from Democrats. Pelosi could have only stopped the bill if she could've gotten a full 63 of those Democrats to change positions. Pelosi herself voted no. The speakership is a powerful position, but not powerful enough that you can just swing 63 votes. Those Democrats, and of course the Republicans who voted against the bill, are the problem. Nancy Pelosi is not. (If, per impossible, Cindy Sheehan defeated Nancy Pelosi, the Speakership would probably pass to Steny Hoyer or Rahm Emanuel, both of whom are to Pelosi's right.)

So what are constructive steps to deal with this situation? First, you could support primary challenges to those 86 Democrats, particularly ones who are in safely Democratic districts. (Joe Baca of California, who tends to win his district by 30% margins, strikes me as particularly ripe for challenge.) Second, you could increase the number of antiwar Democrats who are in Congress by supporting anti-war Democratic challengers to pro-war Republican incumbents. Third, and most importantly, you could support a Democratic presidential candidate who opposed the war from day 1.

An Obama victory could thoroughly change the way people in politics think about foreign policy issues and electability. When a guy who always opposed the war makes a meteoric rise from the Illinois State Senate to the presidency in just 4 years, that's an unmistakable sign that reasonable foreign policy views aren't an electoral loser. The effect this will have on professional politicians, consultants, and people in the media is one of the most hopeful things about his candidacy.

Comments

[Sir Charles]

No disrespect to your adviser Neil, but these are the politics of a rather juvenile human being, one who seems to have little notion of how our Congress works.

This is simply silly posturing -- the academic equivalent of holding one's breath until one turns blue and passes out.

[Sir Charles]

And by "no disrespect" I mean, in the Jon Stewart sense, a whole lot of disrespect.

[janinsanfran]

I actually live in Pelosi's district. She's neither as bad as some think, nor as good as you are hoping. She's an accomplished politician whose ambition fixed on getting and keeping Congressional leadership. Looked at through that lense, she makes sense -- and both excites and disappoints.

I tried to get Sheehan to primary Nancy before she became Speaker. That might have been a useful shot across her bow. Doesn't make much sense now.

[Neil the Ethical Werewolf]

I read the link, Jan, and it's everything I expected Nancy was. Her caucus has more problems than we want it to, and she handles those problems realistically. When she has the advantage, she presses it (see the Social Security fight, S-CHIP, and the PR gains from the Murtha thing). When she doesn't have the advantage, she doesn't press it. Knowing when to hold and when to fold is a big part of the game, and I'd rather have her playing it than any of her rivals for the speakership.

[Steven Tidwell]

Just so you know, Joe Baca does have primary opposition this year(and any Dems in 43 please visit the above website). Joanne Gilbert is Chair of the Rialto School Board and is a former educator. Recently the campaign released an internal poll showing her with a huge lead(though I question it's merit).

"The results are as follows:
Gilbert – 54%
Baca – 11%
Undecided – 35%
Total voters contacted: 1,369 "

While I think Baca will likely win the primary(Name recognition is big), I think we should start looking forward to 2010 and finding a viable canidate(Gilbert, or someone else). This district, either way, will stay Dem.

[Corvus9]

Pelosi seems to incredibly effective at herding cats, but even the best cats herders a can't make all the cats go on one direction all the time.

Neil I am curious about you opinions about the usefulness of having "a Democratic presidential candidate who opposed the war from day 1" vis-a-vis your prior support of Edwards.

[Shock Mouse]

Corvus9:

That's simple: Obama was a little better than Edwards on the war (Day 1 vs apologizing for it), while Edwards was much better than Obama on healthcare, poverty, and seemed (at the time) more likely to get elected in a general. Edwards isn't an option now, and Neil doesn't have to preface every single post about the Presidential race with "but I liked Edwards too".

[Shock Mouse]

I know a lot of academics who are incredibly simplistic re: poliics. Most anyone who sits down and thinks hard about these ideas for a while generally comes to support people like Pelosi (or their conservative counterparts).

[weboy]

I don't think a two sentence post is a fair indictment of anyone; Just because he likes Cindy Sheehan and is critical of Pelosi on the war, I don't know that it makes him a bad liberal. As janinsanfran suggests, I think Pelosi defenders give her too much credit: she's aces at politics and fundraising, less unsuccessful, I think, at governing. In two years, it's not that Pelosi hasn't ended the Iraq War - that was, and is, an unrealistic expectation all along - it's that she's struggled to do nearly anything at all. As the vote yesterday demonstrated, the House GOP can simply stand aside while Pelosi and the majority flail around trying to figure out spending. Listening to Pelosi defend what is simply an embarrassment of a farm bill (the best we could get, she said, and a good "first step") is to realize that she's got, often, nothing to offer once one good idea has died.

Yes, I want a larger majority and a Dem President; much of the disaster these days is Bush, not Congress. But still. Pelosi and Reid have been, at best, seat fillers while we try to cobble together a new Democratic mandate, and while their service in the hardest of circumstances is laudable and to be commended, it's not, I think, worth celebrating. We could, and should, do better at governing, as Democrats. And I'm not convinced, just with more people, that we can expect better from Nancy Pelosi as Speaker. Just more.