Considering the drubbing that Democratic House members took in last week’s election, many believed that Speaker Nancy Pelosi would step down from her leadership post. Instead, Pelosi has decided to be the minority leader when Republicans take over the House in the new Congress.
It appears that House Democrats won’t mount a serious challenge to Pelosi, even though the San Francisco Democrat’s decision will limit their ability to capture the political center.
At a time when Democrats need a new direction in Congress, they will be lead by the same people who were lightning rods for Republican gains — Pelosi in the House and Harry Reid in the Senate. At least the Democrats didn’t lose the Senate under Reid’s leadership, although the Republicans came close to capturing that chamber, too.
It’s time for Pelosi to step down and give other House members an opportunity to lead the Democratic caucus. With conservative Republicans now controlling the House, it’s a recipe for gridlock to have liberal Democrats leading the opposition.
The Democrats need to offer a centrist voice that represents the views of most Americans. If Pelosi remains in charge of Democrats, she’ll continue to give Republicans a target to demonize. That won’t get us any closer to solving the nation’s problems. This is a selfish move by Pelosi that will not offer the opportunity of bipartisan cooperation in the House.
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