The fact that the Democrats named in this article only commit to symbolic actions against Nancy Pelosi’s bid for Minority Leader suggests that she has the race locked up. But they are illustrative of the self-defeating approach of so many Democrats in Congress.

“The reality is that she is politically toxic,” said Illinois Rep. Mike Quigley, one of several Democrats who are trying to pressure Pelosi to step aside as her party’s leader in the wake of historic election losses to Republicans last week [...]

There’s “starting to be a sense that this may not be as much of a done deal as people might have thought,” Rep. Jason Altmire said of Pelosi’s quest to remain the top Democrat.

“If enough people come out and voice a little discomfort with the idea of her continuing on, maybe she would reconsider,” said the Pennsylvanian, one of a handful of Democrats who said he won’t cast a ceremonial vote for her.

The election of a party leader occurs behind closed doors. A separate election for speaker to be held on Jan. 5, a few hours after the House convenes for the first time, is a very visible one. One member of each party is typically nominated, and each lawmaker is then called by name to stand and declare a choice. The event is customarily televised live.

Defections from party discipline are rare in such circumstances, but several Democrats said they would not support Pelosi. They did not specify how they would vote instead.

Exactly how would it help to engage in a symbolic, public show of disapproval for the Minority Leader of the party? What does it achieve, personally or for the party as a whole?

The fact is that this little episode, with members believing and internalizing Republican lies about Pelosi, and seeking to distance oneself from the party brand under which they were elected, shows the fundamental problem with national Democrats. EJ Dionne expressed it pretty well today:

Democrats who stand up to say they were right to reform health care and stimulate a staggering economy are told they “don’t get it” and are “in denial.” Liberals who refuse to let one election loss alter their commitments are dismissed as “doubling down” on a bad bet.

President Obama made the word “audacity” popular, but conservative Republicans practice it.

Mainstream commentary typically bends to the more audacious side. As a result, there was far less middle-of-the-road advice in 2008 urging Republicans to move to the center than there were warnings to Obama not to read too much into his victory. The United States, we were told, was still a “center-right” country. The actual election result didn’t seem to matter back then.

Funny that when progressives win, they are told to moderate their hopes, but when conservatives win, progressives are told to retreat.

They’ve internalized many of these concepts. Call it the Lawrence O’Donnell-ization of the Democratic Party. Conservatives believe their ideas are popular despite all evidence showing they’re not. Liberals believe their ideas are poison despite all evidence showing their popularity. It’s the results, not the stances on the issues, that trip up liberals with the electorate. It’s they fact that they run from their own principles which creates the problem. If politicians in the liberal party hate themselves, why should anyone else like them?

As Dionne says, Republicans don’t chase the center, they try to move it. Pelosi counts the votes, but she also does some of this. She savaged the deficit commission report as “simply unacceptable” in a matter of hours. She wants to pass the DREAM Act in the lame duck session. The problem is that her rank and file spends far too much time taking the advice of their opponents, who have nothing but ill will for them.