Across ideological spectrum, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi dashes expectations.

[rodeodance]

Pelosi vows more civil approach — next year

By: Jim VandeHei and John F. Harris
Dec 11, 2007 09:40 PM EST
Nancy Pelosi
Across ideological spectrum, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi dashes expectations.


http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1207/7335.html

Across the ideological spectrum, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has dashed expectations.

On the right, the hope was that Pelosi would be the tallest lightning rod in Washington — playing to type as a “San Francisco liberal” and handing the Republican minority all manner of ideological openings to exploit. For the most part, that has not happened.

On the left, the hope was that Pelosi would lead the newly empowered Democrats to hijack President Bush’s agenda on the issue that matters most to party activists — ending the Iraq war.

To Pelosi’s regret, that has not happened either.

Appraisals of Pelosi’s first year revolve around these fallen hopes and come with still another surprise: For all her history-making status as the first woman to run the House, Pelosi has emerged as a fairly conventional leader. ..

[rodeodance]

1. it is the anti-war liberals in her own party who offer the harshest assessment of the Pelosi reign s

One what-if echoes. Some members say Democrats missed a golden opportunity early in the summer to find compromise and split Republicans from Bush, laying the groundwork for limits on the military operation.

Pelosi instead pursued an unyielding approach that turned off even the war skeptics inside the GOP.

In a sign of the pressures Pelosi is under, however, it is the anti-war liberals in her own party who offer the harshest assessment of the Pelosi reign so far.

“When you look back at this year, it will be defined as the year of lost opportunities,” said Ohio Rep. Dennis J. Kucinich, a long-shot presidential candidate. “This was the time to use the power of the majority to chart a new direction. So far it’s been … not only a missed opportunity but a failure.”

California Rep. Lynn Woolsey added: “I personally don’t think worked. As a result, everything we’ve done on student loans, minimum wage, the six in ’06 agenda gets lost.”

[paulk]

4. Kucinich shows why he will never be President

or even an effective Representative.

"This was the time to use the power of the majority to chart a new direction. So far it’s been … not only a missed opportunity but a failure."

I'm sure he would have handled the "bluedogs" better that Pelosi...

:sarcasm:

talk is cheap, DK, something I'm reminded of every time you open your mouth.

[EVDebs]

2. A Dame of the Knights of Malta perhaps ? nt

[styersc]

3. I don't want to offend any Pelosi fans but I just recently realized

that Pelosi is our George Bush. It doesn't matter if she shares my ideology and supports the same policies that I do, she is so inept at execution it is all in vain.

[Forkboy]

5. Any more civil and they'll be cuddling by the fire at night over cocoa.

Sheesh!