Nancy Pelosi ranks second-in-
line to the presidency after
Dick Cheney
Posted on 11/18/2006 5:33:09 PM PST by bruinbirdman
New Speaker's embarrassing week has made it easier for her opponents to attack
Republican strategists plotting their party's comeback after it lost control of Congress have identified the "first lady" of Democrat politics as a key target in the 2008 White House campaign — even though she will not be running.
Senior party operatives told The Sunday Telegraph that they are already co-ordinating plans to attack Nancy Pelosi, the liberal Californian congresswoman and Speaker-in-waiting who suffered a damaging rebuff from her own party caucus last week.
Nancy Pelosi ranks second-in-
line to the presidency after
Dick Cheney
The Republican strategy is not only to undermine Mrs Pelosi's control of the House but also to associate her in voters' minds with Senator Hillary Clinton, the frontrunner for the 2008 Democrat presidential nomination.
"Two years of Pelosi gives a good idea of what four years of Hillary will be like," said Tom DeLay, the Republican powerbroker who ran his party in the House before he was caught up in a lobbyist corruption scandal. "They are both committed liberals and we will make that clear to the American people."
Mrs Clinton, 59, has yet to declare herself as a presidential candidate but has accumulated a vast war chest of campaign donations that would make her hard to stop if she decides to run for the Democratic nomination. Republican strategists are determined to prepare for the possibility well in advance.
Mrs Pelosi's opening-week blunders will make the Republican tactics easier to execute. Her ally John Murtha, a Vietnam veteran who is leading calls for an immediate US troop pull-out from Iraq, lost heavily in a party ballot for the position of majority leader, one rung down from speaker, despite Mrs Pelosi's heavy lobbying for him. That embarrassment presages the trouble she will have holding together the Democratic majority, whose members range from left-wingers from inner-city districts to centrist congressmen from suburban areas in the Midwest and West.
Mrs Pelosi, 66, who is married to a multi-millionaire property investor, will become the most powerful woman in American political history when the new House sits for the first time in January.
As speaker, she ranks second-in-line to the presidency after Dick Cheney, the vice-president. Her solidly liberal voting record during her 19 years as a San Francisco congresswoman have made her a long-time target for Republican strategists' attacks.
They now plan to focus on the difficulty she is likely to have in running the House, splits within Democrat ranks on Iraq and her boast that she we will oversee "the most ethical Congress ever" in the wake of Republican corruption scandals. "Pelosi has set the bar extraordinarily high for the conduct of her caucus, herself and even Hillary," said a former Republican House strategist.
Tony Coehlo, a former Democrat whip in the House who ran Vice President Al Gore's 2000 presidential campaign, acknowledged his party concerns. "Even seasoned Democrats are concerned about the Republicans' ability to tar the polished Hillary by attacking Mrs Pelosi," he told The Sunday Telegraph.
"If Nancy does poorly, that hurts Hillary. That's really unfair, but that's what everyone thinks. That's reality. To help Hillary, Nancy has to be perceived as an effective leader and she's had a terrible start. It was just an awful first week."
A senior Republican operative who planned the damaging advertisements against Sen John Kerry, the Democrats' presidential candidate in 2004, predicted that it would not be easy to turn Mrs Pelosi into a surrogate target for Mrs Clinton.
"If Hillary has been able to separate herself from criticisms of her own husband, she'll try to do the same with Pelosi," he said. "She and her people are very smart and they will try to highlight the difference between the two women. You will see Hillary move more to the centre."
But a former strategist for a Republican House leader said: "If Pelosi comes across as not ready for prime time, that's going to hamstring Hillary. Fair or not, people can't help but make that comparison… Even Hillary's people are recognising that their fates are linked."
Post this story to: del.icio.us | Digg | Newsvine | NowPublic | Reddit
Related articles Grilling by TV comic is new ticket to White House 9 November 2006: Liberal and lip-glossed, the most powerful woman in Washington 17 November 2006: Blow for Pelosi as her choice for deputy Speaker is rejected by colleagues
Ohhhhhhhhh, Noooo, not another VRWC theory. Republicans don't have to plot against Planless Pelosi, Pelosi is not even in the mainstream with her own Party.
Best news I have heard since the election. Now if they follow through. Going to be tough with the MSM being Democratic.
If true, this is encouraging.
I'm not sure if voters will tend to link Nancy with the Beast. If Nancy starts to go down, Shrillary will cut her loose without a second though.
"Tony Coehlo, a former Democrat whip in the House who ran Vice President Al Gore's 2000 presidential campaign, acknowledged his party concerns."
Ol' Tony was also the "braintrust" behind the Democrat's efforts in the 1994 midterm elections.
Yeah, that's the kind of guy I'd want advice from. /sarc
All that has to be done is give Ms Pelousy and Ms Clinton plenty of rope.... They will hang themselves.....
Well, the Dims did pretty well in this last election running against President Bush.
I say go after Bela Pelosi with full force.
"Senior party operatives told The Sunday Telegraph that they are already co-ordinating plans to attack Nancy Pelosi, the liberal Californian congresswoman and Speaker-in-waiting who suffered a damaging rebuff from her own party caucus last week."
They ought to go after Harry Reid, whose business ventures leave him far more open to such a thing.
That's scary. At least we have a plan, so they say.
Yeah, right.
Cool!
Why do they seem to insinuate this is a bad thing?
Palomino!
Right. After this election cycle and the lack of a coherent PR effort from both the White House, the RNC, and the Congress, I am not sure these "Republican Leaders" could organize a BBQ much less an effort to fight Pelosi and Clinton. They proved it to me by re-electing Lott, Boehner, and Blunt to leadership posts in congress.
Does she have two sets of eyebrows, or does she mascara her eye sockets?
All I can say, is it's our turn now. The Liberals did nothing for six years but obstruct, obstruct, investigate, investigate, insinuate insinuate. Time to use their tactics against them. Pelosi and the rest of the Liberals need to be exposed. The culture of corruption was born of the Liberal Democrat party.
Let's roll!
**I say go after Bela Pelosi with full force.**
It's Pelosi's fault!
So the Stupid Party is going to do something smart? In other news the Detroit Lions win this years Super Bowl.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.