Nancy Pelosi and Rep. John Larson, D-Conn., attend the orientation for new Democratic members of Congress.
Posted on 11/16/2006 5:59:57 AM PST by SmithL
Washington -- To hear some Capitol insiders tell it, Rep. Nancy Pelosi has thrown herself into a leadership battle she cannot win.
The San Francisco Democrat will be named the party's choice for House speaker this morning -- perhaps unanimously -- and has fixed her focus on Jan. 3, when she will be handed the gavel and will preside over an ambitious legislative agenda.
Yet the Democrats' first order of business today after anointing Pelosi will be to choose a majority leader, and many longtime Congress watchers are befuddled by Pelosi's public involvement in the secret ballot election that should be decided by lunchtime.
If her candidate -- Rep. John Murtha of Pennsylvania -- wins, she will have elevated a social conservative with a dubious reputation for ethics over the objection of many of the House's Democratic old guard.
If Murtha's opponent -- Rep. Steny Hoyer of Maryland -- wins, she will have lost her first test of clout as the incoming speaker and will need to repair a rocky relationship with her top deputy.
One week after jubilant Democrats celebrated an election that put them in the majority, the Hoyer-Murtha battle is consuming much of Washington's political energy and is forcing Democrats, as one party leader put it, "to spend our honeymoon in counseling.''
Those who know Pelosi best say the simplest explanation is loyalty. Murtha is an old friend who managed her campaign to be the Democratic whip in 2000 and was a vital link to the older, conservative members of the party who were concerned about putting a San Francisco Democrat in a top leadership position.
Hoyer was Pelosi's opponent.
(Excerpt) Read more at sfgate.com ...
Nancy Pelosi and Rep. John Larson, D-Conn., attend the orientation for new Democratic members of Congress.
It looks like that smile has been painted on.
Actually, it was stillborn the moment it left her lips. For that matter, it was aborted when the votes were cast on 11/7, even before she uttered the lie.
I heard about Pelosi's endorsement of Murtha on Monday. So whoever had the 13th. Sure beats my guess. I didn't think the meltdown of ethics would begin until January 3rd.
"older, conservative"
Older - I'll buy. Conservative and democrate together is a bigger rock to swallow.
Whiskey-Tango-Foxtrot, over?
The smile wasnt painted on, It was carved in by a plastic surgeon.
As for her appointment of Murtha , look for the reason to be their involvement in a land scheme together.
C'mon. Tell the truth. How many of you would like to take that finger and bend it back...?
Scary finger pointer!
I read an article in which she was described as "glam." I just can't think of her as galmorous at all.
In the first two pictures she looks like she's growing a moustache.
injected on.
This will be interesting to watch. I cannot imagine Murtha being number 2. This is a ploy to make Pelosi look like she is keeping corruption out of her leadership. Then the media will bury the Hastings nomination.
Death rictus
That's just her withered gums showing through her drum-tight hide...
In order to have a meltdown of ethics, you must first have ethics to melt down....
Spot on! Just saw her on Fox News, wearing a red "power" suit, and said to hubby, "Her face looks like a death mask - hideous!"
What an ugly beast *vomits*
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