Dems’ Learning Curve
For all the media frenzy about supposed disarray in Donald Trump’s transition team, the real chaos is in the House Democratic Caucus.
Over her initial objections, caucus members put off until after Thanksgiving a vote on whether to re-elect Rep. Nancy Pelosi as House minority leader.
This, amid mounting discontent from the dwindling number of Democrats in workingclass states and growing signs that Pelosi will face a leadership challenge from Ohio Rep. Tim Ryan — who warns that Democrats “have to grab that idea of making things in America again.”
Meanwhile, over on the other side of the aisle — where a major frenzy had been widely predicted — Republicans calmly and unanimously re-elected Paul Ryan as speaker, along with the rest of the GOP House leadership.
That welcome move — one for which Trump will soon be very thankful — is yet another indication that the GOP is far more united than the pundits suggest.
As for the Democrats, the possible Pelosi challenge suggests that maybe the party is doing some soul-searching after all about the shellacking it took, especially among working-class voters.
Or maybe not: Elsewhere on Capitol Hill, Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer is appeasing the party’s far-left wing by handing new leadership roles to Bernie Sanders and Liz Warren.
And Pelosi is expected to hold on. For one thing, her state of California has outsized influence in the Democratic caucus. For another, the party’s unlikely to sacrifice another woman leader so soon after Hillary Clinton’s stunning loss.
Fact is, Democrats have become a bicoastal party — their leadership comes from the East and West coasts, with little representation from the heartland that just went solidly Republican.
And in the week since last Tuesday’s shocking defeat, they haven’t shown any sign they know how to come back.