It is a great personal and official honor to receive the Profile in Courage Award, which stands as a powerful testament to the extraordinary legacy and leadership of President Kennedy. #ProfileInCourage pic.twitter.com/npd15vRtOj
— Nancy Pelosi (@SpeakerPelosi) April 7, 2019
Barely three months into her second turn in charge, Nancy Pelosi has already mapped out a plan to overwhelm Republicans in the 2020 elections.
"I'm going to have our races won by this November," Pelosi said. https://t.co/2PqfiuwlhS
— Kyle Griffin (@kylegriffin1) April 6, 2019
… Yes, the House speaker predicted that she will have locked down the majority a full year ahead of schedule, leaving the political battlefield to what she considers an intense presidential race all the way up to November 2020.
It’s a remarkably bold guarantee for Pelosi, who will celebrate this new majority’s 100-day mark at a Democratic retreat next week outside Leesburg. Her caucus has had its share of growing pains in the first quarter of the year, with younger, more-liberal Democrats trying to push Pelosi’s leadership team as far to the left as possible…
In a wide-ranging interview with The Washington Post, Pelosi acknowledged that the job now is different from her first go-round, most notably because President Trump is such a different personality than Presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama. But, she also notes, the rise of social media has transformed politics since her last tenure, allowing newcomers to become instant stars in a way that she could not imagine when she arrived in the Capitol 32 years ago…
… Pelosi believes her endangered incumbents are shoring themselves up through a steady diet of town halls. And leadership is particularly pushing the freshmen running their first reelection to raise as much money as possible.
By Thanksgiving, if all goes according to her plan, potential GOP challengers will “think twice” about running against Democrats. And then she will deliver a stern warning to Republicans who remain in swing seats.
“We fully intend to win this election, and some of you are vulnerable. It’s going to cost you millions of dollars, to win or lose. And if you win — say you win — you’re in the minority, probably want to teach at the university,” Pelosi said, drawing out every syllable like the daughter of a Baltimore mayor who watched her father stare down rivals. “So we get the A-team, and they get the retirements. That’s my plan.”…
NEW: Speaker Pelosi issues statement on resignation of Sec. Kirstjen Nielsen: "It is deeply alarming that the Trump Administration official who put children in cages is reportedly resigning because she is not extreme enough for the White House’s liking.” https://t.co/NjQ1E9EIPZ pic.twitter.com/YEPZOwxarc
— This Week (@ThisWeekABC) April 8, 2019
MattF
Pelosi leads by working harder than anyone else. And she certainly works harder than that Orange Buffoon. She has a plan, and she’s on it.
Jerzy Russian
Congratulations to Speaker Pelosi. I hope she wasn’t serious about having departed GOP members of Congress teach at universities. I don’t want to potentially pass these people in hallways and I don’t want our students to have to put up with them. These defeated members should spend more time with their families, since they deserve it.
Joe Falco
Speaking of strategy and the fight for truth, justice and the American way, Georgia Republicans’ vote on their anti-abortion “heart beat” bill helped recruit seven women to run for state seats next year as Democrats. Six of those seven seats currently in Republican control are held by men. The AJC reports:
So yeah, Georgia Republicans. Let your troglodyte governor lead you down all these pathetic “culture war” votes. It’s going to be a long walk off a short pier.
trollhattan
Why, I can remember a day when Ms Pelosi was too old and out of touch to retain her Speaker’s job. She’s come a long way since then. Congratulations, Madam Speaker, well deserved and keep giving them hell!
raven
@Joe Falco: We’ll see.
Joe Falco
@raven: You gotta hope for something. Fight the good fight and all that jazz.
SFAW
@trollhattan:
She still is. Were she not, extreme liberal Seth Moulton would not be getting the groundswell of support needed to catapult his candidacy almost into the stratosphere. [“Almost,” because he shouldn’t be allowed to rival the idol, i.e., Bernie, of some of his biggest supporters.]
Him and Whatsisname Ryan, both.
Re: Speaker Pelosi’s prediction for 2020: my natural inclination is to discount things like this, because they often turn into extreme disappointment [Hillary, Rick Scott a year before winning his second term, etc.] But Speaker Pelosi (I love writing that) has a pretty good track record on her statements of that nature, so I’m trying to hold my trepidation at bay.
rikyrah
Nancy Smash rocks. Period
raven
@Joe Falco: Oh I do, I’ve also lived her for 35 years and know what these nasty motherfuckers are up to.
Gin & Tonic
Yeah, but Tim Ryan will have the last laugh when he’s elected President and Pelosi will have to bow to him as the most powerful Democrat in the country.
randy khan
Pelosi keeping her foot on the gas pedal and keeping the pressure on the Republicans. Exactly what I expected of her, and why I love love love her as Speaker.
(A comment on the point about expectations: What I like most about what she said is that she’s telling the Republicans a lot of things they already know – it’s no fun to be in the minority, getting the House back in 2020 is an uphill battle, people in swing districts are going to have to raise insane amounts of money – and then adding that the Dems already have a plan in place to consolidate and extend their majority. It’s all intended to discourage incumbents from running for reelection, which will make those seats even more vulnerable.)
Miss Bianca
I like her confidence and swagger about 2020. I like that she says, “we’ve got a PLAN.” I feel like I really need that right now.
HalfAssedHomesteader
@Joe Falco: Hear! Hear! Not to mention the strong showing of opposition from “Hollywood South”, Coca Cola, IBM and many other corporate voices. If they can’t listen for justice maybe they’ll listen to their pocketbooks.
The Moar You Know
I don’t ever recall her saying something remotely like this. An angry, determined Pelosi should be the GOP’s worst nightmare. It would be mine, save I always try to stay in her good graces.
Perhaps she could lend a hand on the completely ignored and absolutely vital – ABSOLUTELY – 2020 Senate elections? Please? It’s seriously more important than even the Presidency.
Joe Falco
@HalfAssedHomesteader:
It needs condemnation from every sector of life. The ACC tennis tournament was moved to Rome, Georgia only after NC Republicans overplayed their hand with their transgender bathroom bill and the NCAA boycotted the state. Republicans don’t learn but double down given half the chance apparently.
SFAW
@The Moar You Know:
Are you trying to suggest that Chuck Schumer doesn’t have things well in hand? Stunned, I am.
Steve in the ATL
@HalfAssedHomesteader: historically, Georgia republicans talk the fundamentalist right wing nutjob talk, but their walk is pure business.
David Perdue’s election to senator was a surprise, because he was the fundamentalist right wing nut job candidate, and he beat the business friendly republican in the primary despite the heavy corporate support that guy received.
It remains to be seen where kemp will fall, but this new abortion ban is a bad harbinger.
J R in WV
I too want to also praise Madame Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s leadership, through which she earned the Profile in Courage award!! A hard working person indeed, and for all the right positions for AMerica!
joel hanes
@trollhattan:
I can remember a day when Ms Pelosi was too old and out of touch to retain her Speaker’s job.
I got an email from Seth Moulton the other day, fundraising for someone else. Replied with “I will contribute to a primary challenger for Seth Moulton” and unsubscribed.
justawriter
I read Profiles In Courage more than 40 years ago, pretty much for the same reason my Irish grandmother owned the Kennedy Memorial Album that was produced after the assassination. It was impressive to the 16 year old me, but I am afraid it is one of the artifacts that hasn’t aged well. A lot of it is devoted to defining “courage” as keeping slaveholders in the Union and then opposing Reconstruction. It feels like it was written to keep the Strom Thurmond Democrats from bolting if Kennedy got the presidential nomination. Then the final profile is Bob Taft questioning the legitimacy of the Nuremberg Trials, because why not.
Sister Golden Bear
@randy khan:
Nancy Smash is busy getting inside Republicans’ heads. May she live there rent-free until Election Day (and beyond).
Matt
@SFAW: Can’t wait for all the “we lost in 2020 because you fucking hippies didn’t do what your betters told you to” thinkpieces. They’ll be great reading as we’re all being marched into gas chambers by Trumpkins.
Chyron HR
@Matt:
We were all on the internet on election night 2016, Matt. We watched in real time as the self-proclaimed left gloated about their “victory” over the Democrats. Spare us your attempt to pretend that it was the other way around.
Jim Parish
@justawriter: Yep. I read the Profiles way back when, but the only one I remember at all clearly is the one on Edmund G. Ross – the Senator whose vote at Andrew Johnson’s impeachment trial kept Johnson in the White House. Imagine Benjamin Wade as President…
Searcher
Aaaaaand, Bernie just came out as against “open borders”.
SFAW
@Matt:
Not quite sure what point you’re trying to make. That the “fucking hippies” (as you call them) are the only true keepers of the Democrat(ic) flame? And that they are the only ones — or rather, their candidates — who can defeat the Rethugs in 2020? Or is it that support for politicians like Speaker Pelosi means that “fucking hippies” (as you call them) will be told to FOAD, and have no voice in policy, etc?
Or was it just a general veiled rant at those politicians whom “fucking hippies” (as you call them) want to be more liberal, or retire, or just go away?
Kay
They’re all such cowards. She had a decision to make and her decision was to follow orders. This after the fact sniping they all do is just the weakest thing I’ve ever seen. Trump owns them, body and soul. This is the deal they made.
SFAW
@Kay:
At some level, this is an extension of the “Leopards Eating Peoples’ Faces” meme.
Joe Falco
@Searcher:
Wilmer can go read the plaque at the Statue of Liberty and stfu.
Just One More Canuck
@trollhattan: she was so much older then, she’s younger than that now
Kay
@SFAW:
I think “timing” probably matters as far as asserting moral superiority. You don’t get credit for refusing the order after you carry it out and then get fired and publicly humiliated. Was he holding her hostage?
Kay
@Joe Falco:
I think the Democratic candidates will be upset that Bernie Sanders is once again portraying their position the same way Donald Trump does. No one is actually for “open borders”. That’s a Fox News characterization of the anti-Trump position.
Brachiator
@Searcher:
Qualifies for a Profile in Cowardice award.
Peale
@Kay: He’s such a phony socialist. I think we should pepper him with other policy questions about changes to the immigration system. Honestly. Ask him if he agrees that poor immigrants should have no legal protection. As him if he’d appoint more judges so that immigrants wouldn’t be indefinitely detained. Ask him if he’s o.k. with 4 year olds being in court and forced to represent themselves. Ask him if something should be done so that the wait list for family sponsorship for Mexicans and Indians isn’t 12 years. Ask him why being poor should disqualify a refugee or assylee seeker. He’s the kind of socialist who favors rich immigrants over the poor. What kind of socialism favors the rich over the poor?
Joe Falco
@Peale:
Corporate socialism.
Smiling Mortician
Anyone who bitches about Nancy Pelosi just doesn’t get it. End of story.
Sorry I’m so late to this (probably dead) thread. It’s taken me months to come back and join the conversation, even though I’ve been lurking for the past year or so since dealing with the cancer thing and moving to a new continent as threatened.
joel hanes
@Smiling Mortician:
I remember you.
Welcome back !
VeniceRiley
@Smiling Mortician: Welcome back! The thread may be dead, but you’re wonderfully alive.
Smiling Mortician
@VeniceRiley: Thank you, VeniceRiley!
Smiling Mortician
@joel hanes: As I do you, joel hanes!
joel hanes
@SFAW:
It certainly sounds like the defensive bleating of someone who was too concerned with personal brand purity to vote for HRC in the general, and is not willing to admit that was a mistake.
J R in WV
@Smiling Mortician:
Holy Cow, congrats on both! Didn’t know about your cancer thing, cancer sucks!!
Which continent did you move to to escape..?. Can’t blame you at all.
SFAW
@joel hanes:
You mean war-monger Hitlary? Who’s no different from the Traitor-in-Chief — maybe even worse?
SFAW
@Smiling Mortician:
I’m hoping this means you’re OK, in remission, cancer-free.
Smiling Mortician
@J R in WV: @SFAW: I’m still in treatment (diagnosed July 2017, working on it since). My husband and I retired early and moved to Spain. We’re absolutely loving it here as I continue to work with excellent docs in a different country and feel good every day. Thanks for asking!
Searcher
@Kay: I mean, I am for “open borders”, by just about any definition you want to use, for similar reasons as glossed today on SMBC, the webcomic by the brilliant & sexy Zach Wienersmith, selling his new book.
But I understand this isn’t a mainstream Democratic position.
And I’m shocked-not-shocked that the patron saint of the leftier-than-thous isn’t for it.
WaterGirl
@Smiling Mortician: I remember the day you got the out-of-the-blue diagnosis and you were feeling pretty hopeless, trying to work out whether it was worth it to try to fight it. (please correct me if I am remembering that totally wrong!)
It sounds like you worked through that and are happy with your decision.
Spain! I don’t recall anything about Spain before, was that a “what the hell, we may as well do what we want” decision? (not meaning to pry, so ignore me if you like)
joel hanes
@Smiling Mortician:
Spain
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a_OEJ0wqt2g
SFAW
@Smiling Mortician:
OK. Hoping the treatments work out stunningly well.