The talking heads at MSNBC think “the dam is breaking” on Democrats’ support for House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi.
MSNBC host Hallie Jackson on Tuesday pointed to at least one Democratic candidate who plans to “run away” from Pelosi during the 2018 midterm elections, and asked NBC political reporter Alex Seitz-Wald to weigh in on the situation.
“That’s not new, necessarily, but do you think that we will see more of that come 2018?” Jackson questioned.
“I do,” Seitz-Wald said. “Yeah, I mean, this was always something you heard in private, whispered behind the scenes from Democratic lawmakers, Democratic candidates, the elephant in the room, or maybe donkey in the room since we’re talking about Democrats here.
“But I do think the dam is kind of breaking here. You’re seeing more and more people, and more senior people, speaking out against it.”
He pointed to the special election in Georgia to replace Republican Rep. Tom Price, who was recruited by President Trump to serve as Secretary of Health and Human Services, and to the Democratic Party’s elderly leaders, who many view as out of touch with constituents. Republican Karen Handel ultimately won Price’s seat, which has remained in Republican control for nearly 40 years.
“(Democrats) watched what happened in that Georgia special election earlier this year, when Republicans ran hundreds of ads tagging Democrat Jon Ossoff with Nancy Pelosi, and there’s also a generational issue here,” Seitz-Wald said.
“The entire House leadership on the Democratic side is run by people in their 70s, and there’s a younger crop of people coming in, this huge crop of candidates. A lot of them weren’t recruited, but stepped up themselves and they’re not super loyal to that leadership.”
Pelosi and other senior Democratic leaders have certainly given Democratic candidates plenty of reasons to keep their distance.
Pelosi has repeatedly flubbed her words at public appearances in recent months, at times appearing confused and unorganized. He’s had repeated brain freezes, stumbled over words like “natural,” and often misstates the names of government leaders, often using the names of officials from previous administrations, The American Mirror reports.
She’s also called Trump “Bush,” and sparked the ire of illegal immigrants in her district by meeting with the president to discuss the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program – which was created by President Obama to shield illegal immigrants from deportation but eliminated by Trump this summer.
Other senior House Democrats, like California Rep. Maxine Waters, have focused all of their energy on grandstanding against Trump by calling for his impeachment based on unproven allegations of collusion with Russia during the 2016 election.
Waters also recently told MSNBC the Democratic National Committee should return large political donations from alleged serial rapist and Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein should give him his money back, rather than donate it to a women’s charity as others have suggested.
And it’s not just Sietz-Wald who seems to see the writing on the wall for Democratic leaders like Pelosi.
Ohio Rep. Tim Ryan, who most recently challenged Pelosi for the top House leadership positon, also called for fresh blood just last week in an interview with Fox & friends.
“Our leadership does a tremendous job, but I do think we have this real breadth and depth of talent within our caucus and I do think it’s time to pass the torch to a new generation of leaders,” California Rep. Linda Sanchez said in the October 5 C-SPAN clip aired during the segment. “And I want to be a part of that transition and I want to see that happen.”
“Do you agree with her, a new generation of leaders?” Fox & friends host Brian Kilmeade asked Ryan. “You took on Nancy Pelosi in the last cycle. Do you feel even more that way now?”
“I’ve been very, very clear with where I stood over a year ago in my own race for House leadership, but I do think we need to continue to get young voices out there,” Ryan responded. “We’re doing it more and more now, and I think it’s appropriate for us to encourage young people to run for leadership positions and run for the Senate, and governor positions,” he continued.
“We need new young leaders in the Democratic Party if we’re going to be able to make back some of the losses we’ve had over the last 8 or 10 years,” Ryan said.
Ryan made similar comments earlier this year about Democrats’ “toxic” brand that’s “worse than Donald Trump’s in many parts of the country.”
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