Nancy Pelosi
I like Nancy Pelosi. Let me repeat that - I like Nancy Pelosi. I think that she's a nice person, an effective politician, and I'm happy that she was recently elected House minority leader. Yes, I know. Many people dislike Nancy Pelosi, but I'm not among them.
Humans have an unfortunate tendency to scapegoat people - to focus their unhappiness on some hapless person. It's not enough to dislike a policy or a situation, we have to hold somebody responsible for creating it. So it is with Nancy Pelosi. In the last election, Republicans in positions of power did their best to scapegoat Pelosi. They spent more money attacking her personally than they did President Obama. And apparently they were successful.
It's perfectly possible to like people, even though we don't like the views they express. It's possible to like Nancy Pelosi, but not her political viewpoints. But we human beings rarely do that; we merge the person with their views. We dislike both of them. We scapegoat. In this case, we scapegoat Nancy Pelosi.
Why do I think Nancy Pelosi is a likable person? I met her two times on social occasions. The first was a political gathering in Rye, New Hampshire. My wife and I took our granddaughter to the event, and Pelosi went out of her way to speak to our granddaughter and encourage her. So what? Pelosi is nice to children; what politician looking for votes from parents isn't kind to kids.
Perhaps, the second example will be more persuasive. My wife and I attended a political fundraiser for Carol Shea-Porter at the Liberty Hotel in Boston at which Nancy Pelosi was the featured speaker. (Yes, that's the "out-of-state" fundraiser held a full 40 miles from New Hampshire that the state GOP roundly criticized. These same people were strangely silent when millions upon millions of anonymous dollars from out of state sources deluged New Hampshire voters with television ads attacking Democrats.)
Republicans are very adept at creating caricatures of Democrats that are unappealing to voters. The GOP presents Pelosi as a "limousine liberal," an uppity, wealthy person who forces unrealistic liberal ideology upon average people.
To an extent, Pelosi inadvertently facilitates that stereotype. She represents liberal San Francisco (seen as the center of homosexuality in America by homophobes); she is very attractive for a woman of her years (over 70); and she dresses impeccably. But there is a whole lot more to Nancy Pelosi. She is a warm and caring person. At the meeting, she moved around the room greeting the guests, and, just as she did with my granddaughter, responded at length to each person's comments. (The typical politician standing in a receiving line abruptly grabs your hand, smiles briefly, and forcefully steers you to the next person in line so as to meet as many people in as short a time as possible.)
Moreover, Pelosi is genuinely appreciative of the opportunity she has in Congress to benefit the lives of the American public. And Pelosi is an effective leader. She knows her constituency well (Democratic members of Congress), and takes that into account when she makes decisions. Massachusetts congressmen Ed Markey and Mike Capuano were at the fundraiser. Pelosi would pause occasionally in her remarks to say things like, "Mike, I know you don't agree with this, but . . .," or "Ed, your experience on this matter may be different from mine."
And you may be sure that when Pelosi takes a bill to the floor of the House she has the votes to pass it. Thomas Roberts commented on Countdown, "Pelosi has, by any measure, a stunning list of accomplishments under her belt from the last two years. Measure after measure, propping up Wall street, automakers, and, in turn, the U.S. economy, tax cuts for the middle class, investments for America's future in green energy and basic infrastructure, health care reform, veteran's benefits, equal pay legislation for women, new rules reining in Wall Street, new protection for consumers against credit card companies, reforming student loans for college kids."
And Pelosi is tough. She gives the Republicans as good as she gets. The Democratic Party is desperately in need of tough leaders who are not pale replicas of the GOP and will not give away the store in one-sided compromises. Republicans may openly rejoice because they feel Pelosi's unpopularity will be a handicap to the Democratic Party, but privately they know they will have a fight on their hands.
We men should be as strong. Nancy, you go, girl!
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