Update and bump: WASHINGTON - "Nancy Pelosi was unanimously named speaker-elect by House Democrats Thursday, the first woman to be ensured the post that constitutionally is second in line of succession to the presidency. "
"House Democrats picked Rep. Steny Hoyer to be House majority leader . . Earlier, an ebullient Pelosi declared: 'We made history and now we will make progress for the American people.'"
"Rep. Barney Frank, a Massachusetts Democrat, predicted there would no lasting fallout from the leadership battle."
When asked if she had any regrets about her endorsement of Murtha for the number two position, Pelosi replied that she never has regrets (CNN). Heh.
Nancy Pelosi’s new office will make her the highest-ranking woman in U.S. history -- second in line for the presidency. The San Francisco liberal and self-identified feminist comes from a family famous for "having extraordinary practical political skills."
Pelosi learned politics from her father, the legendary Baltimore politician Tommy D'Alesandro Jr. It's quite likely that some people are underestimating the new Speaker.
Today the House Democrats will cast their secret votes for the new House Majority Leader. In what has been billed as "Pelosi's power play," both sides of the leadership race claim they have all the votes they need.
If Speaker-in-waiting Pelosi and Congressman Murtha win, it will be clear that Democrats are deadly serious about their anti Iraq Occupation stance:
"The Pelosi-Murtha position on the war is the reason the Democrats are in the majority today," said Murtha. "Congressman Hoyer's position has been to stay the course with President Bush from the very beginning and, like Senator John McCain, he advocates sending in more troops."
Equally as important, a win will enable Pelosi to lead without having to worry about her second-in-command working overtime to stab her in the back.
In other words, "She needs people who aren't going to try to upstage her simply because they have dangly bits and she doesn't."
Or, because she is liberal, and they are not. If Pelosi should lose this one (my money's on Pelosi!), at least she will have the advantage of knowing who her friends are. And there will be a whole lot of moaning among the conservative Dems with "dangly bits" about their lost committee assignments.
Hotline has a list of House Dems who have publicly declared their support for Pelosi and Murtha or Hoyer. Tennessee's new liberal Congressman, Steve Cohen supports Pelosi and Murtha. The state's conservative Democrats -- Jim Cooper, Lincoln Davis and John Tanner -- support Hoyer.
There's still time for you to vote in this poll over at dkos:
Do you approve of the way House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi is doing her job?
Yes 6692 votes - 86 %
No 1082 votes - 13 %
7774 Total Votes
Nancy Pelosi Politics News Bush Democrats Republicans Speaker Pelosi John Murtha Steny Hoyer Steve Cohen Tennessee
