Pelosi Voted Against By 19 Democrats: But The "Fact For 2012" Is That 175 "Democrats" Voted For Her
January 5th, 2011
Pelosi Voted Against By 19 Democrats: But The "Fact For 2012" Is That 175 "Democrats" Voted For Her
Published on January 5th, 2011 @ 11:58:22 pm , using 1337 words
Seated at a table a few rows back on the Democratic side of the House chamber, Pelosi flashed grateful smiles at those who loudly shouted her name as their vote for speaker. Her “Aw” was audible when Rep. Steve Cohen (D-Tenn.) called out “Pelosi. Proudly!” and then spelled it, “P-E-L-O-S-I.” But about 10 percent of her colleagues rejected her decision to stay on as their leader after they were tossed out of the majority in the midterm elections, carefully pronouncing the names of folks who weren’t even in the running for the job destined to go to Rep. John Boehner (R-Ohio).
Eighteen of the 193 Democrats voted for someone other than Pelosi, with Rep. Sanford Bishop of Georgia, who also opposed her, voting present and Rep. Peter DeFazio of Oregon, a frequent critic, skipping the roll call altogether to attend a local town hall meeting on saving a veterans hospital.
It was a scene unlike any other in recent House history and, as a public repudiation of a party leader by so many lawmakers, one that won’t soon be forgotten. The roll call resulted in the most votes against a party’s own speaker candidate in nearly 90 years, according to the House historian’s office. Twenty-three Republicans voted against Massachusetts GOP Rep. Frederick Gillett’s candidacy for speaker in 1923, although he eventually won the gavel on the ninth vote. When Speaker Newt Gingrich (R-Ga.) teetered on the edge of rejection by his own party in 1997, only nine Republicans denied him their votes.
Pelosi brushed off the votes against her in a brief exchange with POLITICO after the roll call.
“We’re excited about the votes I got,” said the California congresswoman, who handed over the speaker’s gavel to Boehner at a ceremony after the roll call.
Some Democratic aides said the number of votes against Pelosi might have been higher but for this: Committee assignments for the 112th Congress have not yet been made, and lawmakers fear they could be denied a spot on the panel of their choice — particularly as rosters are shrinking — if they anger the person who controls the panel making those decisions.
Still, that wasn’t enough to dissuade a large bloc of the Democratic Caucus from making its dissatisfaction with Pelosi public. She gritted through it, a broad smile pasted on her face for most of the proceedings.
Jason Altmire from western Pennsylvania was the first to break ranks. He stood, from behind Pelosi and to her left, and called out his vote: “Heath Shuler!” Reporters scribbled down his name — and Shuler’s — and waited for the next one. John Barrow of Georgia, several names down in the ledger of lawmakers, rose to vote for home-state colleague John Lewis, a leader of the civil rights movement.
“I was really embarrassed, really, that someone would vote for me,” Lewis said. “I don’t have any desire to be speaker. I didn’t campaign for the job.”
Dan Boren of Oklahoma, the most conservative Democrat in the House, voted for Shuler. Then Dennis Cardoza, one of Pelosi’s fellow Californians and a man whom Pelosi put at the leadership table in the past Congress, voted for fellow Californian Jim Costa. Costa voted for Cardoza, who was sitting next to him. In all, 11 Democrats voted for Shuler, two for Lewis and one apiece for Minority Whip Steny Hoyer, Ohio Rep. Marcy Kaptur and Tennessee Rep. Jim Cooper.
In addition to Boren, Shuler and Altmire, the eight others who voted for Shuler were Cooper, Joe Donnelly of Indiana, Tim Holden of Pennsylvania, Larry Kissell of North Carolina, Mike McIntyre of North Carolina, Jim Matheson of Utah, Michael Michaud of Maine and Mike Ross of Arkansas.
Ron Kind of Wisconsin, who voted for Cooper, said the public isn’t happy with the partisan leadership on either side of the aisle.
“What our nation desperately needs is political leadership sitting in the same room, listening to each other and trying to find common ground,” he said. He pointed to agriculture spending, earmarks and defense spending as areas where bipartisan consensus could emerge in the new Congress. “I’ve been very upfront for weeks now, if not months, that I was going to cast my vote for Heath Shuler,” said Boren. “I think going forward, we need someone who can bring us together, and Heath would do a good job at that.”
While many Democrats were surprised when Pelosi announced that she would seek the post — and 43 voted against her for the position in a caucus meeting late last year — the overwhelming majority supported her for speaker Wednesday.
And she got an unexpected shot in the arm from a high-ranking administration official who served in Congress.
Labor Secretary Hilda Solis, a former House member from California, told POLITICO that Pelosi made the right decision to stay on as minority leader.
“I’m happy that she decided to stay,” Solis said. “She represents the heart of the Democratic Party and is very principled.”
Pelosi aides and allies insisted that she did not whip the symbolic vote or take any action to tamp down opposition, and they privately assert that they had “no idea” how many of her colleagues would vote for other candidates.
Democratic sources said California Rep. George Miller, Pelosi’s right-hand man, was making calls on her behalf to try to hold down opposition to her on the floor. Getting an accurate whip count was next to impossible Tuesday, as Pelosi opponents largely stayed away from a closed-door caucus meeting for House Democrats.
Pelosi has consistently said that she has “no regrets” over the Democrats’ 63-seat loss on Election Day — the worst suffered by either party in more than 70 years — and despite her unpopularity nationally, she remains a powerful force within the House Democratic Caucus and among party faithful.
Intraparty dissent over the speaker’s vote is rare but not new.
In 1997, at the start of the 105th Congress, nine Republicans opposed Gingrich’s reelection by voting “present” or supporting other candidates. Gingrich was reelected, but the vote demonstrated growing unhappiness with him in GOP ranks. Gingrich stepped down as speaker and retired in 1998, after Republican losses in the midterm elections.
In her remarks Wednesday, as she handed the gavel to Boehner, Pelosi vowed to work with the GOP on restoring the U.S. economy where possible, although she warned that her party will not violate its own principles on deciding whether to support any Republican initiatives.
“Our most important job is to fight for American jobs,” Pelosi said. “And so Democrats will judge what comes before Congress by whether it creates jobs, strengthens our middle class and reduces the deficit — not burdening future generations with debt.”
Pelosi added: “When the new speaker of the House, John Boehner, and the new Republican majority come forward with solutions that address these American challenges, you will find in us a willing partner.”
A senior Democrat, speaking on the condition of anonymity, acknowledged that the anti-Pelosi votes demonstrated her diminished status, but he said that she remained a power within the caucus.
“I wouldn’t overinterpret this,” said the lawmaker. “This is political more than anything. [Pelosi] was an issue for a lot of members during the campaign, and they wanted to inoculate themselves against that happening again.”
Yet even that admission is a sign of how worried some Democrats are about Pelosi’s standing moving into the 2012 cycle.
“The fracturing of the Democratic House really is symbolic of what is happening across the country with the Obama agenda,” said Texas Rep. Pete Sessions, chairman of the National Republican Congressional Committee.
More From The Politico
Permalink
Comment feed for this post
