Anyone who must undergo annual job performance reviews can only marvel at the lack of accountability of our Democratic Congressional leadership. First, Schumer’s back in, and today, Nancy Pelosi.
That re-electing Nancy Pelosi Speaker will result in Democrats losing the House majority in 2022 is as predictable as the sun rising in the east tomorrow morning. And this talk of the Democrats’ 2018 win of the House as being due in any form or fashion to the leadership of Nancy Pelosi is simply revisionism. Democrats’ success in 2018 House races resulted from rational voters expressing their hatred of Trump in the only way they could, and Trump voters staying home. Nothing to do with Nancy Pelosi, in fact, the 2018 Democratic victories happened in spite of Nancy Pelosi.
In 2020, rational voters had a direct opportunity to vote against Trump and they took it. Trump voters all came out. Result? In an election that Democrats expected to pick up House seats and gain a 2-3 Senate majority, they lost 9 House seats and may only obtain a Senate majority by the skin of their teeth, if at all. So what do Dems do this week? Re-nominate Chuck Schumer and then Nancy Pelosi and her team for another term in leadership thereby setting themselves up for a 2010 redux. How many times must one fail before being held accountable? And accountability aside, how is having three 80 year-old leaders in 2022 suppose to attract young voters to the polls?
Look, we have Joe. He deserves all the credit in the world for having beat Trump. I am genuinely excited about his Presidency even though he was probably near last on my list of Democratic primary candidates. Joe ran a flawless campaign and he has to date given all appearances that he does not intend his Administration to be a rerun of Clinton/Obama apologetic incrementalism. We need Joe. But do we need Nancy Pelosi, Chuck Schumer, and Steny Hoyer as the faces of Congressional leadership anymore? Have they earned it after the 2020 election outcomes? Nine House seats gone after Democratic voters were lectured for the past two years on how progressive priorities needed to be tempered so tough House seats like OK-5 could be retained; the same lecture Pelosi & Co. have been delivering for the past 15 years. Well, OK-5 & 8 other seats are gone despite the watered-down, apologetic progressivism that the Pelosi team insists is the ticket to Democratic electoral success.
How about Amy Klobuchar as Democratic Senate Leader? David Cicilline as Speaker? New faces, new approaches, please. Doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results. The Democratic leadership way, not just the definition of insanity.
