Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi has decided to run for the post of Minority Leader in the House of Representatives, after the Democratic Party lost more seats than at any time since 1938, as the New Deal programs of Franklin D. Roosevelt were coming to an end!
There are many who feel that Pelosi was a lightning rod who alienated many voters, and that she should take the blame and leave as a leader of her party after the loss of more than 60 seats, a walloping rebuke by the voters!
But others point out that the Democrats in the House accomplished landmark legislation in so many ways, and that hundreds of other bills that have passed the House may not become law because of blockage in the Senate!
It is clear that Nancy Pelosi, despite the Democratic defeat, has been one of the best and most effective Speakers of the House in US History!
Her gutsy, aggressive personality has upset many people who don’t like a woman who can compete with ambitious, aggressive men. The personal enmity of many Republicans, conservatives, and ordinary citizens toward Pelosi would not be half the level if Pelosi was male. There is still a “glass ceiling” in many people’s minds, the same one that expresses the view that an African American should not be President of the United States!
So, considering her accomplishments as Speaker, and despite the public repudiation in the midterm elections, Nancy Pelosi should be encouraged to stay and fight for the return of her party to the majority in the 2012 election!
The next congressional election in 2012 should seen as a battle of progressives to overcome adversity, and the fight for political democracy, social justice, and economic regulation should not be abandoned or compromised, by the “quitting” of Nancy Pelosi!
Sarah Palin may have quit, but Nancy Pelosi is no “quitter”! Rather, she is a courageous, hard working woman who is not about to give up the fight, or allow criticism to cause her to avoid the fray!