The Pelosi Playbook
What do you get when you cross big-money politics and tepid progressive positions? A look back at the career of Nancy Pelosi, who’s now poised to retake the House Speaker post.
House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) holds a news conference following the 2018 midterm elections at the Capitol Building on November 7, 2018 in Washington, D.C.Zach Gibson / Getty
Barring some shocking eleventh-hour twist, Nancy Pelosi will almost certainly be voted Speaker of the House. Depending on how you look at it, that’s either good or bad news.
On the one hand, Pelosi is undoubtedly an able hand at the practical aspects of the job, and in several high-profile episodes she’s successfully resisted parts of the Republican agenda and occasionally even the more right-wing elements of her own party.
On the other, Pelosi is arguably the perfect avatar for today’s moribund Democratic Party: awash in money, steeped in conflicts of interest, hopelessly anchored to an illiberal and always-moving center, and pathologically unable to fully stand up for what should theoretically be its own principles — all of which makes her unsuited to leading the party in the current moment.
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