Skip to content
Politics & Current Affairs

Villain Pelosi?

Republicans running for the House this year think that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is the villain driving health-care reform, not President Barack Obama, writes Politico.
Sign up for the Smarter Faster newsletter
A weekly newsletter featuring the biggest ideas from the smartest people

Republicans running for the House this year think that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is the villain driving health-care reform, not President Barack Obama, writes Politico. “In district after district, GOP candidates have unleashed a barrage of press releases, emails, and ads criticizing the California congresswoman for her efforts and explicitly tying their Democratic opponents to her, often while avoiding mention of the president’s role altogether. While Obama’s work to advance health care legislation is also a target in some contests, it is Pelosi who is emerging as the face of health care reform in competitive races across the country. The standard approach is to characterize vulnerable Democrats as Pelosi minions or close allies. A recent press release for Republican Jeff Reetz described Rep. John Yarmuth (D-Ky.) as ‘Pelosi’s Benchwarmer’ while Rep. Carol Shea-Porter (D-N.H.) is said by Republican Frank Guinta to be ‘Pelosi’s strongest ally in the House.’ In California, Republican Brad Goehring claims Democratic Rep. Jerry McNerney ‘has voted in lockstep with Speaker Nancy Pelosi.’

Sign up for the Smarter Faster newsletter
A weekly newsletter featuring the biggest ideas from the smartest people

Related
House Democrats are in trouble. Even with substantial majorities in both houses of Congress, Democrats have been unable to get the economy back to operating at full capacity. Whatever the […]
Forget Rahm Emanuel, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has “earned the badge of the toughest nut in F***nutsville” and is one of history’s most skilled vote-getters, writes Richard Adams.
The votes were cast and near-universal health care reform passed by the House. So, the Democrats won a clear victory, right? Not according to Republicans who are also triumphant.

Up Next
Rabbi Oren Hayon feels the Passover story—a tale of enslaved Israelites, pestilence and plagues— needs perking up, so he has recruited a band of rabbis to act it out on Twitter.