Now that Nancy Pelosi has caved on her tough-gal position, can we finally dismiss the notion the Speaker of the House is a brilliant political strategist and great congressional tactician? Perhaps media pundits – like Joe Scarborough and Chris Matthews – will finally stop conflating her experience with wisdom and speakership with expertise. Other than being the first woman to be Speaker, what has she done other than reign over an idiocracy that divided Republican from Democrat?
Pelosi’s “great” legislative accomplishment, Obamacare, is disintegrating before her eyes. After the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act removed the individual mandate, 40% of un-subsidized enrollees (tax-payers forced onto the exchanges) dropped out. After a federal judge ruled the individual mandate unconstitutional, her law-making legacy now depends on a 5-4 conservative Supreme Court. See ya!
Pelosi’s “great” political power play, impeaching President Trump, was too late and too little. The 79-year-old politician looked weak and controlled by her party’s extremists, stumbling and mumbling her way to a decision (against it…for it). Even worse, House Democrats produced two articles of impeachment that were itsy-bitsy-teeny-weeny misdemeanors (abuse of power and obstruction of Congress). Oh, well.
As a political power, Ms. Pelosi has lost a step, and she’s now in a free fall after over-estimating her position in a bicameral legislature. With articles of impeachment in hand, Pelosi refused to send them to the Senate until she saw “what the process [was] on the other side.” Her legislative and media surrogates went into hyper-drive: she would force Mitch McConnell to accept Chuck Schumer’s witness list. Except, Mitch McConnell (R-KY) is the real deal when it comes to political strategy and legislative tactics.
While Pelosi talked the talk, McConnell walked the walk: counting votes and watching polls until it was hammer time. “There will be no haggling with the House over Senate procedure. We will not cede our authority to try this impeachment.” As to Pelosi’s “game playing, no such leverage exists…it will never exist.” McConnell gave Pelosi the spotlight until it was time to call her bluff:
- Pelosi did not persuade a single Republican to vote to impeach, after initially insisting on bipartisan support.
- The hearings had abysmal TV ratings, and the polls showed declining support in battleground states and from independent voters.
- McConnell locked up 51 Republicans to ensure the Senate trial would follow the precedents set by the Clinton impeachment.
Ms. Pelosi was suddenly alone. CNN‘s Scott Jennings reported “no Republicans were harmed, pressured, or otherwise inconvenienced in the making of this sad, sad film” – and “smart” Democrats rejected her ploy. Senator Feinstein (D-CA) warned that time was against Pelosi: “the longer it goes on, the less the urgency becomes; so, if it’s serious and urgent, it should come over. If it’s not, don’t send it over.” Her advice was echoed by Senate Democrats Blumenthal (CT), Coons (DE), Manchin (WV), Murphy (CT) and Tester (MT). Thankfully, the petulant Pelosi heeded the grown-ups.
The guess here is that politicians – of every political stripe – will learn from Pelosi’s blunder: most voters are sick and tired of the politics of personal destruction. Almost every American nit-picks Mr. Trump for something, but they have grown weary of Democrats declaring thermo-nuclear war on the President. If Tip O’Neil (D-MA) could work with President Reagan, what’s Pelosi’s major malfunction? I am going with an inflated sense of self. Too bad for her that pride goeth before the fall.