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You are here: Home / Open Threads / Open Thread: Pre-Missing Nancy Pelosi Seems a Lot Like… Never Mind, I Did Not Know She Was Making An Announcement

Open Thread: Pre-Missing Nancy Pelosi Seems a Lot Like… Never Mind, I Did Not Know She Was Making An Announcement

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Did I miss some announcement about Nancy Pelosi? (Update: Yes, I did!)

Maybe it’s just me, but pre-missing Nancy SMASH seems a lot like being absolutely certain that we were going to get creamed in the House and the Senate.

We just don’t know what’s going to happen.  No one knows.  Nancy SMASH may not even know for sure what she is going to do at this point.  I keep feeling like we are being led around the nose by the “all about the clicks” media.  Or worse.

Oh, and let’s give our Senate Majority Leader 51 seats, shall we?

I must live in a cave, because until MazeDancer mentioned it in the comments, I had no idea that GA had a Senator Bae and a Senator Boo.  But I love that so much!

I am filled with admiration for Raphael Warnock and Jon Ossoff.

I think Jon Ossoff will be president one day.

But for now, I will be ecstatic if we can keep Senator Bae in the Senate.

Open thread!

Reader Interactions

94Comments

  1. 1.

    Ken

    We’re Democrats, deciding in advance how the party is going to disappoint and depress us is what we do.  With the occasional circular firing squad thrown in for variety.

  3. 3.

    Betty Cracker

    Well, Pelosi’s spokesperson did say the following:

    “The Speaker plans to address her future plans tomorrow to her colleagues. Stay tuned.”

    Seems like speculation about her political future might flow from such an announcement on a blog where people talk about politics a lot, but maybe it’s evidence of a lack of commitment to Sparkle Motion. I just can’t tell anymore. ;-)

  4. 4.

    mrmoshpotato

    I must live in a cave, because until MazeDancer mentioned it in the comments, I had no idea that GA had a Senator Bae and a Senator Boo. But I love that so much!

    Must be a multi-room cave because Huh?.

  6. 6.

    Betsy

    I never thought about Sen. Ossoff for President.  What a thought to savor!  You just added days to my life.

  7. 7.

    Geminid

    @Qrop Non Sequitur: My hunch is that Speaker Pelosi made her mind up on this question well before the election.

    That’s just a hunch, though. Maybe we’ll know more before too long, although it’s a matter of secondary importance compared to the actual decision.

  8. 8.

    Betty Cracker

    Palmeri at Puck News says Pelosi will give a speech at around noon to announce that she’s retiring from the leadership role but will stay in Congress “in a sort of emeritus role and helping to guide Democrats through their turn in the minority.”

  10. 10.

    WaterGirl

    @Betty Cracker: Well, I guess that answers my question about whether I had missed an announcement – I did!  Thank you.

    Did I miss some announcement about Nancy Pelosi?

    I have no idea what Sparkle Motion is.  I apparently need to get out more.

  16. 16.

    cain

    @Betty Cracker: It’s probably a good time to retire and let someone else have a turn and she can help mentor them. But she should do the picking IMHO. I feel like everyone running for it is almost as old as she is.

  28. 28.

    Gin & Tonic

    @Ohio Mom: My son is Ossoff’s age, and I’ve observed that many in his age group like the very slim-fitting, short-jacketed suits. But even accounting for that preference, Ossoff looks terrible.

  33. 33.

    Enhanced Voting Techniques

    I was under the impression Pelosi has wanted to retire for a while and her husband’s injuries only add to that.

  36. 36.

    Geminid

    @WaterGirl: Caucus Chairman Hakeem Jeffries of Brooklyn is thought to have the inside track in the race for Leader. There may well be contests for that and lesser posts. The members for the upcoming Congress will meet November 30 to debate and decide.

    This will be a closed meeting, but I expect a big tea(spilling) party afterwards. These races will have gotten a lot of attention by then.

  39. 39.

    WaterGirl

    @Geminid: I don’t expect anyone but Hakeem Jeffries to win the leadership position.  That’s clearly who has her support (clear to me, anyway!) and I suspect that what Nancy wants, Nancy gets, as far as this goes.

    Respect for her judgment about her replacement.

    Like everything else, we’ll soon see.

    edit: My “who is running for Leader” was more “who do you think is running for leader that is an oldster???”

  40. 40.

    Geminid

    @WaterGirl: Hakeem Jeffries had served only 3 terms when House Democrats elevated him to Caucus Chairman. Both the leadership and his peers must have seen something they liked.

  41. 41.

    cain

    @Baud: I don’t want Hoyer – and I hope you are right. Getting representation whose experience matches recent life experience  I think is going to be important.

  42. 42.

    James E Powell

    Assuming Speaker Pelosi steps down from leadership, I’m expecting a completely smooth transition to Minority Leader Jeffries & the next leadership team. I’m also expecting that the political press will hate them for it & try their best to whip up a “but some Democrats” storyline.

  45. 45.

    cain

    @James E Powell:

    Assuming Speaker Pelosi steps down from leadership, I’m expecting a completely smooth transition to Minority Leader Jeffries & the next leadership team. I’m also expecting that the political press will hate them for it & try their best to whip up a “but some Democrats” storyline.

    They’ll be going to the squad or other justice democrats for that quote. Our entire political apparatus needs to be disciplined here and keep our sausage making hidden from horse race mentality media (but we could give to up and coming media who isn’t invested in that)

  49. 49.

    Alison Rose

    @WaterGirl: KCIII = King Charles III

    Sparkle Motion is from the movie Donnie Darko

    And to people not getting My Boo and Bae, y’all need to spend more time on the Internet I guess, but I think it’s fairly obvious from context that they’re essentially pet names, things you’d call your romantic partner.

  51. 51.

    MisterForkbeard

    I saw a tweet from a reporter about 20 minutes ago (can’t remember who), saying that Nancy Pelosi was going to stay on in Congress but step down from leadership. She’d be present as an influencer and teacher while handing things off to the next generation. But I don’t know how well sourced that was.

  54. 54.

    MisterDancer

    @WaterGirl: I have no idea what Sparkle Motion is. I apparently need to get out more.

    As someone who has friends who actually did a real-world Sparkle Motion party, allow me to educate you :)

    It’s from the movie Donnie Darko, which is…fairly absurdist, as I understand it, to begin with, so much of it is not meant to make sense. There’s a specific line using the phrase in the movie, that’s been a long-standing meme.

    Overall: it usually is said as a satire on committing to things people consider serious, but maybe aren’t in the grand scheme of things.

  55. 55.

    MisterDancer

    @Starfish: Pelosi in the 1980s looks and sounds a lot like Lois Lane to me!

    Specifically the Margot Kidder/Bitsie Tulloch branch of actors who’ve played her. It may just be the hairstyle, yet…this makes a lot of sense.

  57. 57.

    Geminid

     

    @cain: House Democrats have done pretty well at keeping disagreements “within the family,” at least since a rancorous blow up over emergency border funding in July, 2019.

    There will probably be contested elections for some or all of the leadership spots, and these will generate a lot of noise in the media and among outside advocacy groups as well as individuals. I don’t think the members themselves will be very divisive in action or in word, though.

  58. 58.

    MisterDancer

    @MisterForkbeard: She’d be present as an influencer and teacher while handing things off to the next generation.

    I am 100% here for this! And I’ll say this, too: I do not look forward to the “Pelosi wing” reporting I fear coming. She isn’t that kind of politico, but it’s a pre-canned narrative the GOP’ll be happy to push for a few extra rounds of “Dems in Disarray” stories.

    Especially since Jeffries and likely other new leadership’ll reflect the kinds of diversity media loves to ignore as having their own thoughts and agency, save when we’re rioting.

  59. 59.

    tam1MI

    I would be interested in seeing a front pager analyze how we (just barely) lost the House, most specifically, what caused the New York clusterf*ck and how it can be avoided next time. It looks like we also had some significant slippage in California, what happened there? And yes, I realize this will involve discussing Sean Patrick Maloney’s screwups (or lack thereof, as some here insist).

  62. 62.

    Scout211

    An interview with the head of Trafalgar Group in New York Magazine about his company’s polling failure is an interesting read. A little defensive but admitting that the polls did not account for on the ground work to increase turnout for the Democrats.

    Boots on the ground.  Sounds familiar, no?

    Your model didn’t see that coming. So how do you—

    I would say it’s less our methodology and more our turnout model. And it is very clear to me that when, in the future, I see this kind of attention to get out the vote on one side, our turnout model must reflect that. Our turnout model just didn’t have it there.

    And here’s what kind of bugs me: This turnout of young people from campuses didn’t happen in 2020 because they weren’t on the campuses. But this is the same thing that Democrats did in 2018, and it was very successful. And we should have just anticipated they would do it again.

  63. 63.

    Frankensteinbeck

    @evap: ​

    please somebody explain senators Boo and Bae!

    Terms of endearment for a romantic partner. Implies they’re good looking. There may be more to it here, but I suspect the point is that a number of Georgia ladies think their senators clean up damned fine.

  64. 64.

    WaterGirl

    @tam1MI: That would have to be a point-counterpoint post because there are are least two sides to the story, and both sides would have to be represented.

    Most everyone agrees, I think, that Cuomo is partially responsible.

    Most everyone agrees, I think, that redistricting played a role, with DEMS putting forward something that was sure to get struck down, and then we were kind of screwed with what replaced that.

    Most everyone agrees, I think, that there wasn’t as much serious campaigning as there should have been.

    NOT everyone agrees about Maloney and what happened in those two districts.

    I think a post like that would be a food fight, not that there’s anything wrong with that.

  65. 65.

    RaflW

    @WaterGirl: I could – possibly, depending in part on her hub’s progress  – see her deciding to not seek the minority leader role but stay through this term. It would take a strong new leader to handle having her as leader-emerita, but it could work.

    I’ve served on boards where the president leaves the org at the end of their term, and ones where they serve a year as a sitting member but not as leader, to transmit institutional knowledge and history, and transition the relationships.

    The second takes a self-possessed person who won’t feel like the past president is looking over their shoulder. But I believe those boards/institutions are stronger for the effort.

  66. 66.

    WaterGirl

    @Scout211:

    Geez.  Polling is based on who is expected to turn out.  Getting that completely wrong is a big fucking deal.

    No one could know who was going to turn out this year because there were at least half a dozen wildcards.

    They chose a model that would make them popular with the Rs.

    As far as I’m concerned, they should never be taken seriously again.

  68. 68.

    Geminid

    @tam1MI: I’ve defended Maloney here, but I’ve never “insisted” he lacks blame. He certainly bears the greater part of the responsibilty for losing the 17th CD. He was, after all, the candidate, and I believe closer observers when they say that Maloney’s campaign was deficient.

    I’m saying that the problems were not just in his district and he should not be made the scapegoat for them. And I don’t think one can justly give Maloney all the blame for what happened in New York’s Congressional races and then give him none of the credit for successes in races in the rest of the country.

    Much of the Maloney pile-on is a continuation of a beef that began last May, in the aftermath of redistricting. Some of Maloney’s detractors are just using his loss to settle this score.

  72. 72.

    NoraLenderbee

    @Starfish: I remember that video! She was on the SF city board of supervisors.

    IIRC, she was going to retire after 2016, until the apocalypse happened.

  76. 76.

    tam1MI

    @WaterGirl: That would have to be a point-counterpoint post because there are are least two sides to the story, and both sides would have to be represented.

    I think also such a post could include a discussion of the larger systemic issues that might be at play. For example, maybe the DCCC (and the DSCC for that matter), should consider taking a page from the DNC’s book and having someone in charge of it who’s sole focus is getting Dems elected, rather than it being basically a side hustle for a sitting Congressperson. Maybe it shouldn’t be a part time job.

  77. 77.

    Qrop Non Sequitur

    @Baud: Does seem like it might be a distraction from one’s duties. It’s good these are people with proven experience getting elected, however.

    How would we choose a different person?

  79. 79.

    SFAW

    @Qrop Non Sequitur: ​

    How would we choose a different person?

    Well, for the Rethugs, maybe a steel cage, multi-combatant match? Modified Highlander rules? [Meaning: Only (n)one can survive]
    For us? Less sure about that.

  80. 80.

    BlueGuitarist

    @WaterGirl:

    @tam1MI:

    @Geminid:

    The reason Republicans will have a majority is because of Republican gerrymandering, some racist and unconstitutional.

    Some scattered thoughts

    There’s more for me to learn about the NY redistricting, but it seems relevant that the Court of Appeals decision was 4-3 not 7-0.

    Have to check, but  possibly NY-04 would have been more Republican in the Democratic plan and so probably lost however redistricted.

    Beyond redistricting: Schumer’s election wasn’t close, but it was closer than Washington and Colorado, indicating a statewide issue beyond just the redistricting.

    Also there’s the DCCC and House Majority PAC nationally: Haven’t looked systematically, but in Arizona they were very late to notice the possibility of Jevon Hodge flipping AZ-01, he lost by <1%, and they did nothing to help Kirsten Engel in AZ-06, who lost by 2%  with major Republican groups spending $4 M in the last few months.  Meanwhile DCCC/HMP spent $3M in the last few months to support Greg Stanton (AZ-04) who won by 12%. Of course, Maloney isn’t solely responsible for this.

    Some other Democrats have been blamed for poor choices, but we shouldn’t lose sight of Republican misconduct.

    And since we’re talking about Hakeem Jeffries, here’s a statement of his about the Court of Appeal and NY redistricting (sorry can’t fix bold for some reason)

    “The flawed and unfair redistricting process will lead to a flawed and unfair redistricting result. The so-called public hearing in the remote Village of Bath was utterly inaccessible to the vast majority of New Yorkers, particularly downstate Black, Latino and Asian-American communities. It took place 300 miles away from New York City, with no option for virtual participation or reasonable way to travel to Steuben County. The so-called public hearing featured very little public testimony, as compared with volumes of citizen and community input leading up to the creation of the congressional map signed into law by Governor Kathy Hochul.
    The right-wing special interest groups who successfully agitated to throw out the enacted legislative and congressional maps spent their time at the hearing relying on dubious analysis by a serial political hack who has consistently targeted communities of color and their needs. The New York State Court of Appeals and the Special Master must open up the redistricting process and hold additional public hearings to avoid disenfranchising the Black, Latino and Asian-American residents I am privileged to represent.”

    https://jeffries.house.gov/2022/05/06/rep-jeffries-blasts-so-called-public-hearing-on-congressional-redistricting/

  81. 81.

    RaflW

    @MisterDancer: As long as the ‘view from nowhere’ press (ie: the view from White Heights) persists, minority leader Jeffries – if that’s the outcome – will face not just the classic headwinds that all Dems face in the media, but layer on the sorts of bullshit Obama, Harris and others face.

    No reason whatsoever for the caucus not to select him if Nancy doesn’t seek it, and Jeffries runs. But I expect it’ll be mighty unpleasant. And the purveyors will be shocked, defensive and tin-eared about the criticism they’ll surely earn.

  82. 82.

    Geminid

    @sab: Yes, Maloney was head of the DCCC. I could not say how good a job he did, but I don’t think it could have been a bad job seeing the relative success Democrats had in states besides New York.

    Maloney sure didn’t do a good job in the NY 17th CD, though. He lost a winnable race by a point, I think in part because he took victory for granted and did not grasp that he was in a very tough race until the last few weeks. He reminds me of Terry McAuliffe in this respect.

  85. 85.

    Jowriter

    @Geminid: Perfect analogy.  Maloney thought he could win the 17th without really introducing himself to the many new constituents in his reconstituted district.  Complacency can lose a majority just as easily as malfeasance, maybe more easily.  And I believe that was much of NY’s problem — the Dem leadership in the state should have seen it coming with the Lauder money coming in, a police-friendly megaphone from the mayor of NYC, and an anxious electorate.  Jacobs, the head of NYS dem party leaders, was caught napping.

  86. 86.

    BenCisco 🇺🇸🎖️🖥️♦️

    @RaflW: It will be a fight, and more of one than it would be otherwise, for exactly the reasons you alluded to. If he’s up to it, I’m good with it. I’m light-years past DONE with triangulating to appeal to the mythical persuadable Midwest* diner patron.

    *From the usual columns from the usual rags – any non-coastal region of the country can be substituted here.

  89. 89.

    Paul Begala's Pink Tie

    @Bobby Thomson: agree 100%. The thirst posts and “brother husbands,” plus of course Senator Bae and Senator My Boo. And Cabinet members.

    Disagree with those who think Ossoff needs a tailor/bigger suits… he looks fantastic.

  90. 90.

    WaterGirl

    @Paul Begala’s Pink Tie: Pretty sure that was in moderation because of your apostrophe.  WordPress doesn’t like that.

    If you substitute this character:

    ’

    for the apostrophe, your first comment using that will have to be manually approved, but after that they should go right through.

  91. 91.

    way2blue

    Just chipped in another $100—to make Sinema irrelevant.   Thanks WaterGirl for keeping us focused on what’s important.

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