America is not a zero-sum game.  You can support both the Black Lives Matter movement and law enforcement officials.  You can believe in capitalism and still rail against excesses on Wall Street.  You can oppose Republican efforts to repeal the Affordable Care Act and admit the law has shortcomings which need to be addressed.

Which brings me to the topic du jour: Nancy Pelosi who increasingly has become a scapegoat for what ails the Democratic party, especially in the aftermath of Jon Ossoff’s loss to Karen Handel in the special election to replace Tom Price in Georgia’s 6th congressional district.

A dozen unhappy House Democrats met Thursday afternoon to discuss if — and how — they can replace Rep. Nancy Pelosi as minority leader. (Source: Politico.com)

Several lawmakers who have opposed her in the past argued that Ms. Pelosi would undermine the party’s candidates for as long as she holds her post. (Source: New York Times, June 21, 2017)

This morning I am going to make the case that Nancy Pelosi deserves better from a party she has served honorably and yet needs to cede leadership to someone else.  Let’s begin with the positive.  During her four years as Speaker of the House, her legislative accomplishments include:

• Passage of an economic stimulus package to bring the nation back from the brink of economic collapse.
• An overhaul of the health care system, though less than perfect, has made health insurance accessible to tens of millions of Americans.
• Increasing the minimum wage for the first time in a decade.
• Increased gas mileage standards for automobiles.
• Increased spending on behalf of veterans.

In addition to her formal duties, she has become one of the most prodigious fundraisers on behalf of the Democratic party and its candidates.

Yet Republicans continue to bolster support for their candidates by associating their opponents with Pelosi.  It is not unreasonable to believe an ad campaign funded by the National Republic Congressional Committee titled, “Jon and Nancy,” which included video of Ossoff returning from a Pelosi fundraiser, as costing the Democrat more than a few votes in the recent special election.

Republicans have made Pelosi into the devil incarnate, especially as it relates to the culture wars which divide the country.  She will destroy the traditional family, take away your guns, erode religious freedom, turn the United States into a nation of illegal immigrants and mandate socialized medicine.  There’s just one problem.  Despite representing one of the most liberal districts in the country, based on her voting record and speeches, Nancy Pelosi is much more moderate than her constituents.  In other words, Republicans are not running against Pelosi, they are running against a caricature of the House minority leader.

And as conservative columnist Marc Thiessen points out in today’s Washington Post, caricaturization of the opposition works both ways.  Thiessen writes:

Sen. Mitch McConnell has called off a vote this week on the Senate Republican health-care bill. That’s a good thing. Because if Republicans want to confirm every liberal caricature of conservatism in a single piece of legislation, they could do no better than vote on the GOP bill in its current form.

Likewise, the Democrats need to consider whether its actions merely confirm the worst disenfranchised voters think of the party.  Which brings me back to Pelosi.  The Republicans have successfully painted the Democratic Party as bi-coastal with little or no interest in voters in the “fly-over states.”  Want to reinforce that perception?  How about casting a San Franciscan (Pelosi) and a New Yorker (Chuck Schumer) as the co-stars of your troupe.  Compare that to the Republican leadership with a Speaker from Wisconsin and a Senate Majority Leader from Kentucky.

In the past Democratic House leadership came from places like Oklahoma (Carl Albert, Jr.), Spokane, Washington (Thomas Foley) and Texas (James Wright Jr.)  Likewise, the home states of past Democratic Senate leadership included Montana (Mike Mansfield), West Virginia (Robert Byrd), Maine (George Mitchell), South Dakota (Thomas Daschle) and Nevada (Harry Reid).

So, it’s not personal Nancy.  It’s just a fact.  When Tom Daschle used to campaign on behalf of Democrats in Wyoming or Kansas, he was viewed as “one of us.”  In contrast, when you tell voters in Iowa and Arizona, “We need CANDIDATE X in Washington,” the response is a resounding, “Huh?”

If the Democrats want to again be seen as a national party, the leadership must reflect that goal. Easier said than done.  But a good start would be to re-position the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee as a vehicle to identify and develop party leaders in states and congressional districts between the two coasts.

POSTSCRIPT: Six Degrees of Separation (or fewer)

Those of us who have spent a significant portion of our lives in the political arena have our own version of the Hollywood past time “Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon.”  For those unfamiliar with this popular parlor game, it is said that any actor can trace a connection to Kevin Bacon in six or fewer steps.  Example:  Nick Offerman (of Parks and Recreation fame) is connected to Kevin Bacon as follows:

• Offerman and Nick Nolte both had roles in A Walk in the Woods.
• Nolte and Barbra Streisand shared star billing in The Prince of Tides.
• Streisand co-starred with Dustin Hoffman in Meet the Fokkers.
• Hoffman co-starred with Meryl Streep in Kramer vs. Kramer.
• Streep appeared with Bacon in The River Wild.

Likewise, anyone in politics can make a connection between themselves and any other political figure.  Such is the case between Nancy Pelosi, the subject of today’s post, and this blogger.  In fact there are two connections.

• Pelosi’s father,Thomas D’Alexandro, Jr.,  served as mayor Baltimore where I attended graduate school at Johns Hopkins University.
• In 1978, I worked on Maryland Governor Blair Lee’s re-election campaign.  His running mate was then speaker of the Maryland House Steny Hoyer, who now serves as House minority whip, second-in-command to (drum roll) House minority leader Nancy Pelosi.

Maybe Walt Disney was right.  “It’s a small world after all.”

For what it’s worth.
Dr. ESP