Talk of Pelosi as Speaker Delights
Both Parties
By MARK LEIBOVICH, NYTimes on the
Web, May 30, 2006
| |
 |
| |
Matthew Cavanaugh/European Pressphoto Agency
Representative Nancy Pelosi has become more visible as the prospect
of a Democratic Congressional majority gains credibility. |
WASHINGTON, May 29 Hoping to
win a Congressional majority in November, some optimistic Democratic lawmakers
have taken to referring to Representative Nancy Pelosi as "speaker," as in
speaker of the House. So have some optimistic Republicans.
"She ought to be a big component of the fall campaign," said Ed Rogers, a
Republican strategist and lobbyist. "There are some Democrats who make
really good bad guys."
Ms. Pelosi, the California Democrat and House minority leader, lends herself to
easy caricature by Republicans. She is an unapologetic liberal, with a
voting record to match (the Republican National Committee chairman, Ken Mehlman,
said she was neither a "New Democrat" nor an "Old Democrat" but a "prehistoric
Democrat"). She is wealthy (married to an investment banker, she has
assets listed at more than $16 million). She represents San Francisco,
which Republicans love to invoke as a hotbed of counterculture decadence and
extremism.
"Is America ready for Nancy Pelosi's Contract With San Francisco?" asked
Representative Ric Keller, Republican of Florida, posing a question that, one
imagines, could form the basis of many Republican advertisements this fall.
Democrats may have some reservations about Ms. Pelosi, but they are largely
loyal, seeing her as an earnest champion of the party's beliefs and as an
effective leader.
"She has brought everyone together, she has kept everyone together, and I think
she deserves a great deal of credit," said Martin Frost, a former Texas
congressman and rival of Ms. Pelosi for minority leader.
Republicans have made a target of Ms. Pelosi who has become ubiquitous on
campaign podiums, in interviews and in Republican talking points because the
notion of Democrats' winning a Congressional majority is hardly the pipe dream
it was 18 months ago.
As President Bush's approval ratings languish with those of Republican
lawmakers, polls suggest that Democrats could be on course to lead the House for
the first time in 12 years.
As a result, Ms. Pelosi teeters on a fine line: between the need to say
what Democrats plan to do if they win control of the House and the danger of
speaking too soon. She begins some sentences with "when we win" and others
with "if we win." Sometimes she will tack on a qualifier ("no matter who
wins this election") or caveat ("that's if the election were held today").
"I don't want to appear overconfident," she said.
She is sitting in an office that, she often notes, belonged to Thomas P. O'Neill
Jr. when he was speaker. After November, she hopes or expects to
assume that mantle, depending on what conjunction she happens to be using.
Republicans hope to block her ascent by preventing Democrats from picking up the
15 seats they need to take control of the House. Republican strategists
say they are eager to conduct a direct assault on Ms. Pelosi, focusing on what
they believe are her vulnerabilities.
Ms. Pelosi can struggle at times to give the air of the gravitas that powerful
women like Hillary Rodham Clinton and Condoleezza Rice do, both friends and
adversaries say. She can appear tentative and overscripted in interviews,
with a tight smile and large, expressive eyes than can leave an impression of
nervousness.
"Her public speaking style is not good," said Representative Barney Frank,
Democrat of Massachusetts.
She is more animated and assured in private meetings, said Mr. Frank, who counts
himself a big admirer.
The view of Ms. Pelosi as a deficient spokeswoman for her party was buttressed
during an appearance on NBC's "Meet the Press" earlier this month, which
centered largely on what Democrats would do if they won the House.
Political insiders of both parties judged her performance as shaky, uncommanding
and defensive.
"A lot of Republicans were saying, 'We need her on TV more,' " said Ed Kutler, a
Republican lobbyist. "Maybe we should buy ad time for her."
Asked why she makes such a popular Democratic bogyman, or bogywoman, Ms. Pelosi
shrugged, smirked and, finally, smiled.
"I am an Italian-American Catholic grandmother," she said, "very traditional in
terms of values."
She repeated this three times, as if to emphasize that her self-image was at
odds with more common descriptors, like "San Francisco liberal."
Representative Steny H. Hoyer of Maryland, the House Democratic whip, said,
"They will try to demonize our members in leadership because it's all they have
left."
Mr. Hoyer, who is seen as more moderate than Ms. Pelosi, has made no secret over
the years of his interest in moving up the leadership ranks. But he said
he would not run against Ms. Pelosi for speaker, and he dismissed speculation on
Capitol Hill that he might do so as "the right trying to create a fight."
Ms. Pelosi has said that she intends to become speaker if her party wins control
of the House and that she would expect to run unopposed.
As the prospect of a Democratic majority gains credibility and Ms. Pelosi is
more visible, she is also subjected to the speculation and analysis about her
hair, makeup and clothes that any woman positioned for such a big job often must
endure.
"I hear them say on TV that I've had face-lifts," said Ms. Pelosi, 66, who added
that she had never had one. "I heard one woman say I've had a face-lift,
but it looks terrible."
She shook her head and said, "Did you ever think that those two things cancel
themselves out?"
Ms. Pelosi said she slept little, stole exercise by dashing through airports and
subsisted many days on Ghirardelli chocolates ("less than 10" a day) and
pistachio nuts (which she shells with her teeth).
"I had a hamburger last night and it was my breakfast, lunch and dinner," she
said last week. "And I had these strange things. I realized they
were French fries." She made quick spiraling gestures with her fingers to
show what they looked like.
It was apparent that she was not familiar with curly fries.
In the course of two interviews, Ms. Pelosi repeated herself frequently, even by
the hyper-repetitious standards of politicians:
About how the Republican House leadership was presiding over a "culture of
corruption."
About how Democrats were committed to fiscal
responsibility.
About how Democrats would restore civility to
the House.
About how "when Democrats win," President
Bush will be a "lame duck," upon which she switches poultry metaphors and drops
in the cautionary clichι about not counting chickens before they are hatched.
She repeated Jesse Jackson-like alliterative sound bites in halting
un-Jackson-like cadences. Republicans, she said, "are engaging in deluge
and desperation," while her Democratic caucus "is a great collection of
idealism, intellect and" she paused while trying to summon the third "i"
"integrity."
Whatever Ms. Pelosi lacks as a communicator, her political gifts are abundant,
colleagues say. She is known as a shrewd inside player with instincts
honed in the political hothouse of her youth. She grew up in the Little
Italy section of Baltimore, one of six children and the only daughter of a
legendary Democratic machine boss, congressman and mayor, Tommy D'Alesandro.
She attended Trinity College in Washington, where she met her future husband,
Paul Pelosi, who was attending Georgetown. They eventually moved to his
hometown, San Francisco, where she remained active in Democratic politics and
was first elected to Congress in 1987. The heavily Democratic district has
easily re-elected her ever since.
In Congress, Ms. Pelosi has been particularly interested in intelligence issues
and has strongly supported abortion rights. She has also shown
sharp-elbowed partisanship and old-school pragmatism and collegiality.
Ms. Pelosi nodded vigorously when asked if she was friends with Representative
Tom DeLay, whom she had just seconds earlier described as "corrupt." She
went on to catalog the work the two had done together in Congress. And
then Ms. Pelosi affirmed, once again, how "corrupt" her friend Mr. DeLay was.
Ms. Pelosi, who succeeded Representative Richard A. Gephardt as minority leader
in 2002, has been credited in that role with keeping her racially, ideologically
and stylistically diverse caucus unified. Congressional Quarterly magazine
examined 669 roll-call votes in 2005 and found that Democrats voted with the
majority of their party 88 percent of the time, the highest total since it
started doing such analyses in 1956.
"She understands her members, where they are on issues and what they need," said
the Democratic lobbyist Steve Elmendorf, a former aide to Mr. Gephardt.
Mr. Elmendorf described Ms. Pelosi as "an extremely attentive leader" who would
deservedly receive much credit if Democrats won in November.
Democratic solidarity is also forged of the party's fierce opposition to
President Bush's policies. As Mr. Frank said, "The Republicans' extremism
is the sine qua non of our unity."
Indeed, throughout the Bush presidency, Democrats have been criticized as being
only against Mr. Bush and not standing for any ideals or agenda of their own.
This creates something of a dilemma for them.
In recent years, Republicans have charged that Democrats had no ideas, Ms.
Pelosi said. Now, whenever Democrats talk about their ideas, she said,
"they say we're measuring the curtains on the speaker's office."
Ms. Pelosi disagrees with the notion proffered by some Democrats that party
leaders should say nothing and let the Republicans founder on their own.
"We've done our job for 18 months saying why they shouldn't vote for
Republicans," she said. "Enough of the Republicans. Now it's about
us."
|
