Nancy Loses First Battle After Elections
Pelosi suffers first political defeat since this month’s elections
I reported a few days ago, that Nancy Pelosi wanted Murtha to become House majority leader. Sadly for her, she lost that particular battle:
House Democrats picked Rep. Steny Hoyer to be House majority leader on Thursday, spurning Rep. Nancy Pelosi’s handpicked choice moments after unanimously backing her election as speaker when Congress convenes in January.A Marylander and 25-year veteran of Congress, Hoyer defeated Rep. John Murtha of Pennsylvania in a vote of 149-86.
His election to the No. 2 job came just a short time after the Democratic caucus put Pelosi in line to become the first woman to be speaker, a position which is second in line of succession to the presidency. It marked a personal triumph for Hoyer.
Earlier, an ebullient Pelosi declared: “We made history and now we will make progress for the American people.”
That she becomes the first woman to be speaker can hardly be a surprise to anybody. That battle was won at the moment the Democrats won the elections. However, I find it to be highly interesting that ‘her’ candidate, John Murtha, was quite easily so it seems beaten. The question is whether this will hurt Pelosi politically.
I agree with Robert D. Novak on this: to support Murtha was Pelosi’s first mistake:
This is a no-win situation for Pelosi. If Murtha wins today, she will be accused of personal vindictiveness in derailing Hoyer, who is more popular in the caucus and better qualified for leadership. If Murtha loses, as is much more probable, she will be seen as bumbling her first attempt to lead the new Democratic majority. Pelosi could have avoided this dilemma by standing aside as Newt Gingrich, then the presumptive speaker, did when he voted for his ally Robert Walker as majority whip but did not ask members to oppose Tom DeLay.Pelosi’s mistake confirms long-standing, privately held Democratic apprehension about her abilities. Such concerns do not reflect the Republican indictment of her as a reflexive San Francisco liberal. Some of her most trenchant congressional critics are on the left wing of the party. These colleagues worry that her decision making may be distorted by personal considerations.
UPDATE
TMV co-blogger Michael Stickings published a must read article on this over at the Carpetbagger report called Seriously, what the [bleep] are the Dems doing?
Which is not to say that I like Hoyer any more than Murtha. (See Barbara’s post for more on Hoyer’s problems.) I really don’t like either candidate for the job. Despite Pelosi’s outspoken support for Murtha, would it not make sense for a third candidate, a popular compromise, to be elevated to majority leader? It’s too late for that now that Pelosi has put her weight, and “authority and credibility,� behind Murtha and now that the caucus has been divided into two warring camps, but what good will come of this? No matter who wins, and the vote should come soon, there will be bitterness and divisiveness both at the top and throughout the caucus.
So I ask: Why, why, why?
Everything looked so good just a week ago. And now this.
23 Responses to “Nancy Loses First Battle After Elections”
Our two parties have very different views on dissent. Each, IMO, is flawed in being too extreme on their views: the GOP favors lockstep discipline to a fault, while (again my opinion only) the Democrats tend to favor an excess of dissent. So, in an odd way, this defeat may not hurt Pelosi much at all because it confirms that her party won’t allow her to lead in the fashion that a GOP leader might. I think a lot depends on what her reaction is: will she get that message and back off, or will she push harder for party unity?
Of course, according to some commenters here, there was never a fight to begin with, and Ms. Pelosi just politely expressed her opinion and then asked all Democratic congressmen to vote their conscience
C.S.: i think that it’s a good sign for the democratic party, but obviously not for Pelosi. She publicly supported / endorsed Murtha. See tried to get as many votes for him as possible… This was a defeat, no matter from what party one is.
Yes, to an extent I agree, but I think it matters less in the Democratic party than it would if something similar had happened in the Republican party.
I agree that it’s a defeat for Pelosi. But it also shows she’s not all-powerful, despite the Republican talking points about how scary she is.
Michael: Yes, she put out public support for Murtha. She’s allowed to make an endorsement just like any other politician endorses their preferred candidate. But when you say “She tried to get as many votes for him as possible…” well, aside from making a public statement, do you know of anything else she did? Do you really know the extent to which she put herself on the line with promises, donations, favors, etc., in exchange for votes for Murtha? In fact, your previous article stated,
And there’s the word of one other congressman pointing out that Pelosi made some phone calls.
If she were now indebted for a race where her horse didn’t win, then yes, I’d see it as a setback. But I contend that if she did nothing more than state her preference, this doesn’t amount to a defeat in any significant sense.
Nick,
This article from The Hill gives the impression that it is more than one congressman saying that she made some phone calls. (hint: the title of the article is, “Pelosi pulls out the stops for Murtha”)
This is just a test to Pelosis leadership. Does she except defeat or follow the Republican model?
“Real” politics isn’t about how you act when you get everything you want, it’s about how you act when you don’t get what you want. This will be the first in a long line of things that Democrats (and Pelosi in particular) won’t get and if they can prove to people that they are capable of governing and coming up with new solutions then they’ll have a sizable growth in power over the next decade.
Mikkel: the thing is that it this defeat is not just a defeat, but also an unnecessary defeat. An utter mistake. In politics it is also important to pick your fights and when you fight: win. Starting off with a political defeat is not the best start in the history of mankind.
First, even if she made calls supporting Murtha, that’s not exactly unusual.
Second, the article quotes only one congressman claiming she had.
Must be an impressionist thing. I”ve always been lousy at art history.
Every day political leaders win and lose.
This is a good day for Moderate Centrists.
there is nothing wrong with healty debate, nor is there anything wrong with dissenting from the leader
dems have proven to be independent…that is healthy
fuck all the spin
now watch this and be very, very afraid
dang…i cant get the link thingy to work….ok, so im gonna break the rules and post to a vid you should all see
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W3CdNgoC0cE&eurl=
Everything looked so good just a week ago. And now this.
Do things look bad now?
What conclusions should we draw from Pelosi’s first battle?
It’s a good thing for the party. The press spun out of hand about this, but that’s what they tend to do.
Glad it’s over. Glad she stood by Murtha who was a major voice in the campaign, and it’s OK that he lost. I’m sure Pelosi will be just fine and so will we. Let’s move on.
Was it really a battle? or was it a favor for a friend? . Was there ever any doubt Hoyer would win. I don’t think so.
Standing by Murtha is no different than the Bob dole in 96 loyalty.
I don’t understand whats’ going on here. Who cares if Pelosi endorsed someone? Shouldn’t she stick up for what she believes in? Who cares if Pelosi lost? Doesn’t that mean the Democrats follow their own opinions rather than mindlessly adopting party mandates like all of the Republican shills we’ve been complaining about for so long?
Pelosi has a spine and she used it. She’s not dividing up the party anymore than they should be divided. She endorsed a candidate? Big deal. I pray that the Democratic party doesn’t step in line with Pelosi’s commands, they’re OUR representatives, they’re not Pelosi’s.
This mythical devide sure went away fast when the press conference happened. It was an interparty election, and the alliances were made, and nobody died because of it. If this makes anyone think they are going to sqabble when it comes time to take on the GOP ya might get a surprise.
Rudi, for what it’s worth, I disagree. Murtha spoke out when everyone was scared by the 6 year myth that dissent puts you on the terrorists’ side. Did he feed at the corporate trough? Almost certainly. Who hasn’t? The GOP just turned over the writing of legislation, literally, to the K Street lobbyists. Now K Street is courting the Dems. Let’s CLOSE the damn trough!
I think BYG is right, the idea on the right was that she could dictate terms to the house and those that dared dissent would pay. Looks like that view was way off. I am glad that there is dissent in the party, that means real discussions and debate in the house.
I’m not sure why its being portrayed in the press as such a huge defeat for her- to me its actual democracy- the moderates toning down the liberals in the Democratic party. It bothers me a bit that Pelosi twisted arms to get votes, but maybe she’s trying to create an impression of toughness. This has definitely been the way business has been conducted by the Republicans under Delay and Boehner.