Pelosi's new mission: Block Obama deals with GOP

[Amerigo Vespucci]

Pelosi's new mission: Block Obama deals with GOP
Some in Dem ranks fear president will go too far in accommodating GOP following the midterms

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/40357872/ns/politics-capitol_hill/



House Speaker Nancy Pelosi of Calif., greets President Barack Obama on Capitol Hill in Washington, prior to the president delivering his State of the Union address on Jan. 27, 2010. Vice President Joe Biden is at left.

By JULIE HIRSCHFELD DAVIS
The Associated Press
updated 11/24/2010 3:05:30 PM ET 2010-11-24T20:05:30

Hers was the face on the grainy negative TV ads that helped defeat scores of Democrats. His agenda, re-election chances and legacy are on the line.

Rep. Nancy Pelosi of California, chosen after a messy family feud among Democrats to remain as their leader in the new Congress, and President Barack Obama share a keen interest in repairing their injured party after this month's staggering losses.

But Pelosi's mandate is diverging from the president's at a critical time, with potentially damaging consequences for Obama's ability to cut deals with Republicans in the new Congress.

Their partnership is strained after an election in which Pelosi and many Democrats feel the White House failed them. They believe Obama and his team muddled the party's message and didn't act soon enough to provide cover for incumbents who cast tough votes for his marquee initiatives.

Pelosi will lead Democrats "in pulling on the president's shirttails to make sure that he doesn't move from center-right to far-right," said Rep. Lynn Woolsey, D-Calif., a co-chair of the liberal Progressive Caucus in the House. "We think if he'd done less compromising in the last two years, there's a good chance we'd have had a jobs bill that would have created real jobs, and then we wouldn't even be worrying about having lost elections."

[mix]

1. K&R nt

[budkin]

2. Good for Nancy... there is no compromising with Pugs

[txlibdem]

44. Tell the Harvard Professor that, will ya?

He's so full of visions of his own grandiosity he can't see that he is singly responsible for handing the House over to the Pukes.

Primary season 2012 is coming up FAST!

[glinda]

59. How many times can they say that and yet the Prez. does not hear that.

[eleny]

3. It's no surprise that she makes the republicans shit bricks

[Amerigo Vespucci]

6. I wish they felt the same way about our President

Maybe if she's successful in getting him to scale back the "compromises" they will.

:patriot:

[eleny]

12. Yup, it really is up to him, after all

He and we all would do well if he listens to her. She's some piece of work having been raised in a political family.

[awoke_in_2003]

24. "she makes the republicans shit bricks"

unless, of course, the republicans are from the last administration. No worries from them, because "impeachment is off the table"

[bonzono]

74. Just turn the other cheek

Come January, in the brand new
House of Boner and Issa,
impeachment will be back on the
table so fast, Obama's silver
tongue will be stuttering.
But fear not, for our Slick Willie
Obumbler is already unleashing
his new and improved
Bipartisanship Compromise 2.0
conditioned to reflexively turn
the other asscheek 50% quicker than
1.0, guaranteed to transform the
seething hatreds of his implacable
RePubic enemies into grudging respect,
willing compromises, and impeachment
back off the table.

[MannyGoldstein]

4. But capitulating has worked so well for the last 30 years!

Look at the great advances we've made.

[dkf]

5. That is just great.

So Pelosi's job is to obstruct the President now?

Internecine warfare.

[Jim Sagle]

9. If the President is on a double-cross mission, why yes, that's her job.

[dkf]

14. Obama is a pragmatist not an ideologue.

He never signed up to be a leftist or even a progressive.

[Jim Sagle]

31. He seems to be, not a pragmatist, but an ideologue of the right.

[dkf]

35. What? How's that?

Seriously?

[Jim Sagle]

36. The "Deficit" Commision and its plans to cut Social Security are anything BUT pragmatic.

[JDPriestly]

38. Maybe that is why our party fared so poorly in this year's elections.

Why vote for a Democrat if what you get is somebody like Obama who just quakes in fear at the thought of Republican wrath.

[PuraVidaDreamin]

62. well then he shouldn't have run on "change"

because in the true scheme of things...
nothing has

[Little Star]

68. How about a friggin Democrat? Did he sign up for that???

[sabrina 1]

27. She should have done it sooner. Every time he caved to Republicans

on Health Care, on the Bailouts, on Off Shore drilling, on BP. She realized too late, after she went to the WH to ask them to stop slamming Democrats by drawing a false equivalency between them and Republicans in public, AND to start helping with the election. She had to go twice and didn't receive much help. She pointed out that she and Congress had cast votes that were not popular with the base and that it was to help him, but those votes were now making things difficult for Dems to get reelected.

They never should have cast those votes. I hope from now on when the people tell Congress what they want, they will listen to them and not the WH which listens to Corporate America.

She seems to realize it benefited no one for Congress to support the WH over the interests of the American people. Too bad she didn't realize that from the beginning.

[dkf]

29. He didn't cave to Republicans.

Those were Democrats!

[Lucian]

33. Because he's making stupid decisions.

If he's always siding with the Republicans and going against Democrat values, I'm glad she'll strike them down. We need someone to oversee Democrat ideals in the House.

[laughingliberal]

7. Bravo for Nancy and Lynn!

"We think if he'd done less compromising in the last two years, there's a good chance we'd have had a jobs bill that would have created real jobs, and then we wouldn't even be worrying about having lost elections."

That's spot on! High time someone said it...Well, I've said it but no one writes what I say in news stories.

[Wounded Bear]

8. You go girl!

My sig kind of says it all.

I'm a bit tired of the rightward drift of our nation. Well, more than a bit. Actually, I'm fucking fed up with it.

Fight on Ms Pelosi. You get it.

[onehandle]

10. Nancy holds the flaming sword.

Always has.

[awoke_in_2003]

25. except for when it comes to impeachment. nt

[fasttense]

42. Yes, she took impeachment off the table.

and then announced to her enemies that her biggest weapon against them was never going to be used. That was very bad politics.

But anyone can make a mistake. I gave Obama the benefit of the doubt, and voted for him, when I knew he voted in favor of the bail out for banksters and for the Telecom immunity act. I figured he had made a mistake or two and had learned his lesson. I was wrong, because he continued to make the same mistake of supporting RepubliCON policies against the will of the people.

Pelosi on the other hand, has not done it again. She has not put aside her strongest weapon again. So, I'm giving her the benefit of the doubt that she has learned her lesson: "Never put down the weapon until the opponent surrenders."

[onehandle]

45. Impeachment would have never happened. We did not have the votes. nt

[Lasher]

11. Maybe there's some hope left.

I wonder if Nancy has considered running for the presidential primary?

[xxqqqzme]

53. There is a reason rethugs

dislike her. They fear her, I think. In my rethuglican family, Nancy has replaced Hillary as the woman most likely to cause foaming at the mouth at the mere mention of her name, especially my mother & brother. That has to count for something. Few Democrats achieve that status in my family.

[ProSense]

13. This is interesting

People close to Pelosi say she may trust the president more than some of her allies in Congress do to defend core Democratic principles in his dealings with the GOP.

Some Democrats argue that Pelosi's liberal streak might help the president in that context — a bad cop to Obama's good cop.

"In his negotiations with the Republicans, (Obama) needs to be able to say, 'Look, you say you're not going to compromise, but I've got Nancy Pelosi over here who is very passionate about these issues, and I have to listen to what she's saying,'" Cummings said.

It's not likely to be a tidy process.

Nancy Pelosi is perfect for the job.

[dkf]

17. Does the minority have any power if the majority votes en masse?

Won't her only power be that she has the ear of the President?

[ProSense]

22. How do you know how they will vote

or what leverage she has?

You know, books, theory, insider knowledge, nothing is a substitute for being there. Pelosi fast-tracked unemployment and it got 21 Republican votes. Why?

People are going to have to live with the fact that not only was Pelosi selected by her peers to lead, but also that they are not going to know everything that goes on behind the scenes.

[dkf]

23. Republicans are like sheep.

[JDPriestly]

40. The House performed really well during the past two years.

The problem is in the Senate. Harry Reid just is not up to the job unfortunately.

[JDPriestly]

39. ProSense, this is the first post I have seen of yours in which you

kind of catch on to how the game is played.

As I wrote above, politics is not about cuddly, fuzzy, kitten stuff. It is about confrontation. Obama needs to get in their and box for a change.

[blackspade]

77. I second that.

And that is how progressives what it played.
I think that most on the left know that we are not going to get everything that we want.
But, by the gods, we want Obama/Reid/Pilosi to start at our position and go from there rather than start with a republican plan and moving even further right!

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

[texastoast]

15. At least someone knows what to do

We are already at center right. There's no room at all to move.

[Me.]

16. The Progressive Dems Get It

“Rep. Brian Higgins, D-N.Y., said Democrats learned from the last two years and their shellacking at the polls that "we need to be more aggressive with the White House. They were looking for what was acceptable and then moving toward that, instead of what was important, and moving toward that," Higgins said. "We need to be true to our principles."

[Radical Activist]

32. Everything Obama proposed was to the left of what the Senate passed.

You're blaming the wrong branch of government.

[Me.]

47. IIRC

Obama left it up to Baccus and his group to come up with a plan and his policy was more hands off than anything which is why we got such a watered down, 'acceptable' bill when it finally got voted on. As far as I'm concerned they worked the wrong side of the room for that and the financial bill.

[Johnny Harpo]

18. Somebody Needs To Dig In Their Heels...Who Better?

[Johnny Harpo]

19. Somebody Needs To Dig In Their Heels...Who Better?

[me b zola]

20. K&R!

[PufPuf23]

21. I support Pelosi.

Pelosi is a pol from my state -CA- and is from my part of CA (North Coast, in some ways a liberal bastion but with deep occultic (hat tip to Spiral Hawk)ring wing deep politic.

Of the three, Pelosi was more successful / effective than Obama or Reid in getting through traditional and platform legislation. The Senate and WH did not support the House regardless of pre-election rhetoric.

Pelosi was ever mystifying in "taking impeachment of the table" in 2006.

Also Pelosi and Obama were in lock-step in the GWB's TARP when conceived.

Confusing but Pelosi is a good technician and more true to the Demoratic Party than most in leadership.

[inna]

26. nice gesture (i like it), unfortunately she'll almost certainly cave (to Obama), as she has before

- at least, i give her credit for trying.

[Radical Activist]

28. How are those hearings against the Bush administration going Nancy?

That is the duty of Congress, after all.

[loudsue]

30. Nancy Pelosi is one tough little bird.

I wouldn't even last a week in her job.

[Lucian]

34. Good.

[JDPriestly]

37. K&R

Pelosi should have impeached Bush. But at least she is taking some appropriate stances now.

Politics is about fighting for what you believe in. The word "fight" is important. If you want to be in government work, you have to be willing to handle conflict. It's part of the game.

I hope Obama comes to understand that before it is too late and we end up with a Republican president in 2012.

[Hawkowl]

41. Good.

Someone in his own party needs to hold the President accountable for the mid term debacle.

[w4rma]

43. Extremely good. (nt)

[tomp]

46. "...to make sure that he doesn't move from center-right to far-right..."

wow, that says so much, and all progressives should take note.

this is the best we're going to get from the so-called progressive stalwarts of the democratic party: not moving from the CENTER RIGHT to further right!

sorry, but there is a very special place where one can place such reactionary rhetoric- the FAILhole.

[Stinky The Clown]

48. I'm glad to see some elected Dems describing Obama as "center-right"

He is much further right than many repubicans of my New England youth.

[Towlie]

49. As Bill Paxton said in Aliens...

"Well then why don't we put her in charge?"

[MadMaddie]

50. Nancy will get the job done. Harry on the other hand

capitualtion is his middle name.

ca·pit·u·la·tion (k-pch-lshn)
n.
1. The act of surrendering or giving up. See Synonyms at surrender.
2. A document containing the terms of surrender.
3. An enumeration of the main parts of a subject; a summary.

[AnArmyVeteran]

51. What could we send to Obama to spark any courage?

I thought of mass mailings of pictures of the male anatomy, but thought that might be too graphic. But what will it take for him to act like he has a pair? So far he has a 100% track record of compromising with the enemy who almost destroyed our country. I wonder what the reaction would be if the president received pictures of 50 million 'pairs' in the mail? Would THAT get through to him? So far, the people who elected him have been kept completely on the outside. We have been totally unable to penetrate his inner circle of advisors who have worked from the beginning of his presidency to ignore the will of the people who put him in office. I worked my ass off for over a year, spent a lot on his campaign and was an Obama delegate, but I mostly feel betrayed.

[bonzono]

75. Where on earth would we...

Where on earth would we be able
to get photos of 50 million pairs
of gonads?
Oh, I know. We'll commandeer em off
of the TSA's full body airport scanners.
Pistole should have shot at least
50 million pairs by midnite of
Get-Away Wednesday.

[guruoo]

52. Good cop, bad cop. nt

[pezDispenser]

64. thats a funny image.

[Texano78704]

54. Let's hope so

The last thing we need is another "blue dog" Democrat.

[xultar]

55. I FUCKING LOVE ME SOME NANCY PELOSI.

[indimuse]

56. KNR! n/t

[Forkboy]

57. This is called "good cop, bad cop" where I come from.

[swilton]

58. She woke up too late

as did most of the rest of us.

[Faygo Kid]

60. Maybe it's not yet too late, but that's wishful thinking. I don't blame Pelosi.

She had her heart in the right place, and fought, anyway.

I posted another post today that says abject surrender by the Administration, and that's where the blame lies. Not on Nancy Pelosi.

[pleah]

61. K&R

[pezDispenser]

63. well the strategy worked for the rethugs

Let us give it a try, it'd be nice to have Obama court Dems for a change.

[spicegal]

65. I wish Ms. Pelosi would give President Obama some

testicular fortitude. She seems to have lots more than he does.

[Roland99]

66. Holy crap!! That's AWESOME!!

[Crunchy Frog]

67. Sounds good to me.

[kentuck]

69. I wish I didn't have to believe it...

It's rather discouraging but believable.

[Laelth]

70. I hope Representative Woolsey is right. k&r n/t

-Laelth

[stevenleser]

71. 2/3rds of this is right. The whole blame the election on Obama not being progressive enough is bunk

This was not an ideological election. We all know that now from the exit polls.

When are people going to stop pushing that garbage?

I'm happy to see that Pelosi will lead the charge to keep pushing for a more progressive agenda, but the other stuff is unsupported propaganda.

[davidwparker]

72. K&R

Go, Nancy. Go, Nancy.

[DemocraticPilgrim]

73. I LOVE her !!!!...

I'm loyal to the President but Pelosi knows what's good for him.

[47of74]

76. He needs to learn sooner or later that accomodation is not working

[maritzasolito]

78. Too much turkey and the sky is falling!

[maritzasolito]

79. President Obama needs to come over to clean my back yard!

And I will not have it any other way! He has............! And I do not give a $!T!

We should all be voting repuke from this day forward! I sure miss the WMD little adventure!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[maritzasolito]

80. President Obama needs to come over to clean my back yard!

And I will not have it any other way! He has done............! And I do not give a $!T!

We should all be voting repuke from this day forward! I sure miss the WMD little adventure!!!!!!!!!!!!!!