Gephardt to Pass House Leader Post

Detroit Free Press/AP ^ | November 6, 2002 | David Espo

[riley1992]

NOVEMBER 06, 18:49 ET

Gephardt to Pass House Leader Post

By DAVID ESPO
AP Special Correspondent

AP/James A. Finley [15K]

WASHINGTON (AP) — Missouri Rep. Dick Gephardt intends to announce Thursday that he will not seek a new term as House Democratic leader, senior aides said.

The expected announcement would clear the way for a succession struggle among Democrats, who have been in the minority for eight years and lost seats to Republicans in midterm elections on Tuesday.

Gephardt has long signaled his interest in running for president in 2004, but it was not clear whether he would address that race when he announces his plans Thursday.

Two senior Democrats, Reps. Nancy Pelosi of California and Martin Frost of Texas, have already indicated they would run for party leader if Gephardt chose not to, and jockeying broke out even before word spread of the Missouri lawmaker's plans.

``The country moved to the right yesterday and House Democrats won't win a majority by moving further to the left,'' said Tom Eisenhauer, spokesman for Frost, attempting to depict Pelosi as too liberal to lead the party back into power.

Spokesman Brendan Daly responded for Pelosi. ``It's not a matter of ideology. It's a matter of drawing a clear distinction between the Democratic and Republican Party on issues that the Democrats are united about and that the American people strongly support,'' he said. He cited education funding and Social Security as examples.

Rank-and-file Democrats are expected to meet next Thursday to pick the party's leaders for the Congress that convenes in January.

Gephardt flew to the capital from Missouri earlier in the day, and aides said then that he would spend his time making a decision about his plans. ``If he chooses to run for minority leader we're confident he'll win,'' said his spokesman, Erik Smith.

At the same time, two members of the rank and file publicly prodded Gephardt to renounce another term as leader.

``It is now clearly time for him to step down,'' said one, Rep. Peter Deutsch of Florida.

Said Rep. Harold Ford, D-Tenn.: ``If Mr. Gephardt, or Dick, decides to run again, he should be prepared to face opposition. I think the caucus deserves — the Democrats in the House, that is — deserve to hear an alternative and deserve to hear another set of ideas and what another approach would look like.'' He spoke on CNN.

Gephardt, 61, was majority leader when the 1994 landslide swept the GOP into power in the House. He was elected minority leader several weeks later, and spent the next eight years attempting to return his party to power.

[drstevej]

Please let it be Martin Frost. He is such a twerp!

[Semper Paratus]

Pelosi is a hard core lefty.

[governsleastgovernsbest]

Frost might have been kicked out of the Geeks Club for being too much of a nerd, but politically he is much nearer the mainstream.

That's why I say to the Dems, "please, oh, please, give us Nancy Pelosi as the face of the Democratic Party going into the 2004 elections!"

Just for fun, I went to Project Vote Smart, and checked out her ratings from various issue groups. Here are a selection, which demonstrate that she is truly far the far, far Troskyite left of the Dem party:

Planned Parenthood – 100%
Right to life – 0%
Small Business Survival Committee – 0%
Christian Coalition – 0%
Human Rights Campaign – gay rights – 100%
American Conservative Union – 0%

[riley1992]

"It's a matter of drawing a clear distinction between the Democratic and Republican Party on issues that the Democrats are united about and that the American people strongly support,'' he said.

Obviously not as strongly as he'd like to believe.

[sissyjane]

Perfect--a big fat giant split in the demoRat party.I love it!!

[CoolCD]

Gephardt may run for President in 04'

[donozark]

F- from GUNOWNERS of AMERICA.

[Tall_Texan]

Maybe Gephardt can use the spare time to grow some eyebrows.

[Paul Atreides]

After last night, it's the only think the Dick will be passing, for a while.

[Paul Atreides]

only think = only thing

[governsleastgovernsbest]

Guess I didn't scroll that far down the list of interest groups, but more confirmation of the thesis: Pelosi would pull the Dems even further left, making it more difficult to win elections nationally.

Can't you just imagine her on the Sunday talk shows, being asked if her extreme positions are in line with the thinking of most Americans? Oh, and we didn't mention that, naturally, she opposed the resolution giving Pres. Bush authority on Iraq.

[streetrod]

You would think that a man from the "show me state" would have all the data that he would need to move on from his position of non leadership.

[SwinneySwitch]

Bye Bye, Dick!

[Starstruck]

I wonder what his E-mail from Barbra had to say this morning. I bet it took off what was left of his eyebrows.

[BikerNYC]

Here are a selection, which demonstrate that she is truly far the far, far Troskyite left of the Dem party:

Yes, and for fun, let's compare her to Helms:

Planned Parenthood: Pelosi – 100% ; Helms - 0%
Right to life: Pelosi - 0% ; Helms - 100%
Associated Builders and Contractors: Pelosi – 0% ; Helms - 100%
Christian Coalition: Pelosi – 0% ; Helms - 100%
Human Rights Campaign – gay rights: Pelosi – 100% ; Helms - 0%
American Conservative Union: Pelosi – 0% ; Helms - 100%

Quite the disagreement.

[donozark]

Her appointment may be the thing which drives Ralph Hall of TX. Miller of GA and perhaps other Dems to Republicans...Kinda like the election of Herr Klintler did.

[Brilliant]

Kweisi Mfume says the entire Dem leadership ought to step aside. In light of the Dem decision to go with more liberal leadership, perhaps Mr. Gephardt ought to switch to the Republican Party.

[Mike Fieschko]

Maybe Gephardt can use the spare time to grow some eyebrows.

Martians can't grow eyebrows. It's something in their DNA.