{"id":190431,"date":"2018-11-20T05:33:58","date_gmt":"2018-11-20T10:33:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/?p=190431"},"modified":"2018-11-20T05:34:26","modified_gmt":"2018-11-20T10:34:26","slug":"the-big-question-for-new-house-dems-will-you-back-pelosi","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/2018\/11\/20\/the-big-question-for-new-house-dems-will-you-back-pelosi\/","title":{"rendered":"The big question for new House Dems: Will you back Pelosi?"},"content":{"rendered":"
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The clash intensified Monday as Pelosi’s critics unveiled a letter signed by 16 Democrats, including five freshmen, vowing to oppose her. (File photo<\/a>: Nancy Pelosi\/Facebook<\/a>)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

WASHINGTON \u2014 It’s the thorny first question confronting newly elected House Democrats: Will you vote for Nancy Pelosi?
\nEven before they’ve taken office, the freshmen swept in by the midterm elections are caught at the centre of an escalating power struggle over Pelosi’s future.
\nThe clash intensified Monday as Pelosi’s critics unveiled a letter signed by 16 Democrats, including five freshmen, vowing to oppose her. If that holds, it could be enough to derail her bid. If not, she could reclaim the gavel she once held.
\n\u201cIt’s the question that we got most often,\u201d Rep.-elect Joe Neguse of Colorado said on CBS. He intends to support Pelosi. \u201cYou know I think that it’s important that we have steady leadership right now.\u201d
\nThe vote on a new speaker will be among the first cast in the new Congress, a dramatic roll call that often becomes fodder for campaign ads. For many of the Democratic freshmen, it’s a moment of truth after a number of them promised on the campaign trail to oppose Pelosi and demand new leadership.
\nFor now, just five freshmen have signed onto the letter opposing Pelosi. Two of them, Anthony Brindisi in New York and Ben McAdams in Utah, are in races that have not yet been called by The Associated Press.
\nOther freshmen who have said they would oppose Pelosi did not sign the letter, and the fight for their allegiance is raging behind the scenes.
\nThe showdown is splitting Democrats after they took control of the House in the midterm elections, overshadowing what would be the historic return of the first woman to ever hold the speaker’s office.
\nPelosi ally Jan Schakowsky of Illinois says she understands the freshmen’s nervousness. But she also says, \u201cTwo years from now people are not going to decide whether they re-elect these people based on Nancy Pelosi. And even now I think it had very little to do with affecting the election. Hello! We won with Nancy Pelosi.\u201d
\nOn the one hand, Pelosi’s supporters say now more than ever the party needs the California Democrat’s leadership as a skilled strategist and tireless fundraiser to confront President Donald Trump and Senate Republicans in Congress.
\nOn the other, Pelosi’s critics say she has become such a weight on the party, starring as the chief villain in Republican attack ads against Democrats, that she needs to step aside and make way for a new generation of leadership.
\nAmong those leading the effort against her, Rep. Seth Moulton of Massachusetts has said his group is trying to protect the freshmen so they can survive their re-elections without having Pelosi’s image hanging over their campaigns. The Pelosi opponents’ theory is, once it’s clear she doesn’t have the votes, a new leader will emerge.
\n\u201cOur majority came on the backs of a majority that said they would support new leadership,\u201d the group wrote in the letter. \u201cWe promised to change the status quo and we intend to deliver on that promise.\u201d
\nAll of the freshman opponents so far are men, and Pelosi’s critics have been criticized, especially on social media, as being led mostly by men. Just two of those signing the letter are women.
\nSeveral high-profile freshmen who have vowed to oppose Pelosi are notably missing from the letter.
\nRep.-elect Abigail Spanberger of Virginia said Sunday on ABC she had \u201ctremendous\u201d respect for Pelosi, who \u201cblazed a trail\u201d for the record number of new women, but would be voting against her. She has not signed on.
\n\u201cIf we are going to turn a page and bring civility back to the political discussions, we need to change the people who are directing that conversation,\u201d she said. \u201cBut I have been very, very clear and honest about my intentions.\u201d
\nRep. Lauren Underwood of Illinois said Sunday, \u201cI have not made up my mind.\u201d
\nPelosi’s office insisted Monday she has the backing to become speaker again.
\n\u201cLeader Pelosi remains confident in her support,\u201d said spokesman Drew Hammill.
\nWith the Democrats holding 232 seats, Pelosi can’t afford to lose many votes and still hold the 218 needed to become speaker, presuming all Republicans oppose her. That margin could shift, though, if lawmakers are absent or simply vote \u201cpresent,\u201d which reduces the threshold.
\nHer supporters say that after winning difficult elections against Trump’s campaigning, the Democrats can’t afford to get bogged down in a protracted leadership fight ahead of the Jan. 3 vote.
\nThey are heading toward an internal caucus vote when lawmakers return from the Thanksgiving recess that will test Pelosi’s support.
\nOne potential rival, Rep. Martha Fudge of Ohio, did not sign onto the letter. That’s a similar tack to the one taken two years ago by Fudge’s ally, Ohio Rep. Tim Ryan, who challenged Pelosi during internal caucus elections. Fudge has said she will decide after Thanksgiving if she is running.
\nRepublican Rep. Tom Reed of New York, a Trump ally who has said he could vote for Pelosi if she agrees to rules changes to move power away from the speaker’s office, warned freshmen against waffling.
\n\u201cThey’re going to get crucified, crucified with that first vote,\u201d Reed said in an interview. \u201cYou better think about that long and hard.\u201d
\nSome freshmen appear to be moving in Pelosi’s direction.
\n\u201cRight now, she’s the only person who’s running, so it would appear as though that’s where my vote would go,\u201d Rep.-elect Chrissy Houlahan of Pennsylvania said on CBS. \u201cShe’s an effective person in that job.\u201d
\n\u2014\u2014\u2014
\nAssociated Press writer Mary Clare Jalonick contributed to this report.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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