Now We're Talking
by digby
Pelosi staying as minority leader is terrific of course, for many reasons. But the symbolic "fuck you" to the wingnut creeps of both parties who ran against her and her long-haired, world series winning, San Francisco liberal ways is awesome. But this is beyond my grandest hopes. Dday reports:
Could Nancy Pelosi’s decision to return as Minority Leader of the Democratic caucus end up squeezing Steny Hoyer out of the leadership entirely?
It looks possible. Hoyer may have been banking on Pelosi exiting quietly, with him moving from Majority Leader to Minority Leader. However, Rep. James Clyburn (D-SC), the Majority Whip the past two Congresses, announced his intention to run for Minority Whip, traditionally the chief vote-counter of the caucus but also the #2 in command.
There should be a price to be paid for Blue Dogs crashing and burning and that's the right one. Hoyer has no business being in the leadership now that he only leads a handful of fake Democrats. The caucus is much more progressive and they're going to have to be cohesive and confrontational to do anything. Hoyer is not suited to that job since he sees himself as a GOP facilitator.
And Clyburn makes the "traditional conservatives" (if you know what I mean) absolutely crazy.
It's possible that the minority Democrats are now going to be a real opposition party in the House. It's impossible to know if they'll have the stomach to confront Obama if he wants to make deals with Boehner, but there's an excellent opportunity here to start drawing some real contrasts and making the Republicans show their true colors.
*For a good overview of how this could play well for progressives, read Ari Berman's NY Times op-ed, called Boot the Blue Dogs. And read his great book about the netroots movementHerding Donkeys: The Fight to Rebuild the Democratic Party and Reshape American Politics
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