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I personally don’t think Nancy Pelosi will be back to take the position of Minority Leader. Aside from a return going against the historical norm (outside of Sam Rayburn in the 1940s and 50s), I don’t think she would want to put up with the garbage anymore.
However, I would strongly support her coming back just to embarrass and humiliate Heath Shuler.
Rep. Heath Shuler predicted Thursday that Speaker Nancy Pelosi would act in the “best interest” of the Democratic Caucus and bow out of leadership, but said he would challenge the California Democrat for Minority Leader if she tried to stay on and no “viable alternative” candidate emerged.
“If there’s not a viable alternative — like I said all along — I can go recruit moderate Members to run in swing districts,” said Shuler, a leader of the fiscally conservative Blue Dog Coalition. “In that situation, I could do it better than she could, and that’s what it’s going to take. It’s going to take moderate candidates to win back those seats.”
It’s going to take a better economy to win back those seats. Ideology had nothing to do with last night. If anything, you see that the type of voters Democrats win with didn’t turn out across most of the country, and as a result the electorate was older, richer and more conservative.
So this is ridiculous on its face, especially considering that the remaining caucus of Democrats is plurality progressive and only marginally Blue Dog. But let’s dig a little deeper. Shuler is about to start his third term. He’s not in the leadership. He hasn’t donated to any fellow Democrats in any major way. He was originally recruited as a Republican to run for his seat. He’s virulently anti-immigrant at a time when the best hope for Democrats in the future is to maintain their giant advantage over Latino voters. The only bill he’s ever tried to move in Congress had Tom Tancredo as a co-sponsor. Your Minority Leader should probably not be someone vulnerable to a party switch.
As a former (really terrible) NFL quarterback, Shuler probably thinks he’s a “leader” and can lead his caucus to victory. This would look a lot like him leading the Washington Redskins back in the day. He also thinks it’s the job of the Minority Leader to recruit candidates, as opposed to the head of the DCCC. Of course the Leader has a role to play in that, but it’s mainly a legislative position. And Shuler generally is opposed to the average Democrat in the caucus on a host of legislation.
Shuler, by the way, is OK with Steny Hoyer in charge, which should tell you something about Steny Hoyer. Hoyer said he would never challenge Pelosi for the Minority Leader post if she wants it. But if Pelosi does want to come back, this is a fight against Health Shuler that Democrats should relish.
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O/T. Another “collateral” loss.
All 95 Candidates Who Pledged Support For Net Neutrality Lost On Tuesday
LINK.
Frankly, we don’t have enough women in either chamber… so, I would prefer not to see Nancy Pelosi leave the House.
Two variations on the internet theme:
EU bids to frame Facebook ‘right to be forgotten’
‘”The protection of personal data is a fundamental right,” said the Luxembourg commissioner, . . . “People should be able to give their informed consent to the processing of their personal data, for example when surfing online, and should have the ‘right to be forgotten’ when their data is no longer needed or they want their data to be deleted,” the commission said.”
LINK.
SocialMiner: New software allows employers to spy on Twitter, Facebook, social networks
LINK.
Well, Shuler was a flop here in Washington,D.C. as a professional quarterback. It’s not surprising that he’s a flop as a Democrat,then.
This is what happens when the Dems recruit candidates who are DINOS.
Women? They are terrified of women. That’s why, almost 230 years later, we do not have an Equal Rights Amendment. And the struggle has been going on since 1776 when “Abigail Adams wrote to her husband John, “In the new code of laws, remember the ladies and do not put such unlimited power into the hands of the husbands.”1 John Adams replied, “I cannot but laugh. Depend upon it, we know better than to repeal our masculine systems.”‘
I saw a headline somewhere during the blur of the past couple of days that there is going to be a fight about birth control pills coverage in HCR system. And remember the “firewall” that was built between federal Medicaid funds and abortion–which means there is now a “firewall” between women and a needed medical service. Women’s medical needs, therefore, were sacrificed and even Boxer finally went along with the resulting “compromise”.
Certainly I agree with you and join you in pushing unremittingly for women in leadership positions. But we must make sure they are women who will lead and not be cowed.
Schuler? Really? Forget it. We need more better Dems, not DINOs.
Shuler was a standout QB from Swain County. He led his team to three state championships and was named the NC HS player of the year. He was offered and accepted a scholarship to UTenn. He gained national attention as one of the SEC’s top QBs and held nearly all their passing records. Having almost all your records being eclipsed must be somewhat humiliating, as is coming in second for the Heisman (must have been that complicated IRV they use).
He turned pro before graduating from college. He was picked by the Redskins in the first-round, but held out for a better offer from the team – a 7-year, $19.25 million contract – even though it had fallen on hard times. He played poorly, got into some controversy with a fellow draft pick, threw 5 interceptions (threw the ball into the hands of the other team – sound familiar?), and was benched in his third year. Traded around while his stats remained poor, kept getting injured. Finally he re-injured his foot in training camp and retired. ESPN rated him the 17th biggest “sports flop” of the past 25 years.
Sports can teach you a lot about yourself and about life. In this case, Health Shuler’s sporting career can teach us that we do not want him to be in any leadership position in our party. Former quarterbacks tend to think they were born to lead, even if they were terrible quarterbacks. He has held no leadership positions, and hasn’t donated to any fellow Dems in any major way. He was originally recruited as a Republican. Do we really want a Minority leader who has a tendency to “throw” interceptions? This is one game we can’t afford to blow – we need a quarterback we can trust. I’d trust Nancy Pelosi to throw and complete passes dressed in a business suit wearing high heels over Health Shuler any day!