This Is Making Me Filthy Angry

[Content Note: Misogyny; ageism.]

Matt Fuller at the Huffington Post reports the latest on Democrats who want to deny Nancy Pelosi the speakership:

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi is suddenly in a fight for her political survival as a group of Democratic detractors is preparing to block her ascent to the speakership.

About a dozen incumbent Democrats and a half-dozen incoming Democrats are preparing a letter pledging to not support Pelosi on the House floor for speaker. The members also intend to note another contingent of Democrats who privately say they won’t support the longtime California Democrat but won’t sign the letter, according to Rep. Tim Ryan (D-Ohio), one of the ringleaders of the effort to block Pelosi.

Sources familiar with the letter say there are currently 17 names on it, but the group is trying to get more than 20 members before releasing it. Currently on the letter, though not certain to stay on it, are:

- Tim Ryan (D-Ohio)
- Seth Moulton (D-Mass.)
- Kathleen Rice (D-N.Y.)
- Ed Perlmutter (D-Colo.)
- Kurt Schrader (D-Ore.)
- Filemon Vela Jr. (D-Texas)
- Marcia Fudge (D-Ohio)
- Bill Foster (D-Ill.)
- Brian Higgins (D-N.Y.)
- Stephen Lynch (D-Mass.)
- Linda Sanchez (D-Calif.)
- Jim Cooper (D-Tenn.)
- Jeff Van Drew (D-N.J.)
- Joe Cunningham (D-S.C.)
- Max Rose (D-N.Y.)
- Anthony Brindisi (D-N.Y.)
- Ben McAdams (D-Utah)

There is another contingent of Democrats ― including Conor Lamb (D-Pa.), Dan Lipinksi (D-Ill.), Ron Kind (D-Wis.), Abigail Spanberger (D-Va.), Jason Crow (D-Colo.), Haley Stevens (D-Mich.), Elissa Slotkin (D-Mich.), Mikie Sherrill (D-N.J.) and Andy Kim (D-N.J.) ― who are seen as likely to vote against Pelosi, but who also are hesitant to sign the letter.

A number of Pelosi foes don't want to go public officially, because they are goddamned cowards who know they have no legitimate reason to challenge Pelosi. They lurk in the shadows with nebulous talking points about "the establishment" and "effective leadership," the latter of which falls to absolute rubbish when Pelosi's actual record is discussed.

So they conceal their names and make the vaguest of arguments, relying on public hostility for any older woman seeking power to serve as the case they refuse to make.

Meanwhile, they're skulking around trying to bring other Democrats on board and claiming they have the numbers to defeat her, to force her out of the contest altogether:

Pelosi's allies all readily point out that "you can't beat somebody with nobody," but Pelosi's opponents are testing that idea. In fact, they seem to think their movement is strengthened without a clear alternative.

The idea is that, once Pelosi knows she can't win, she will step aside and there would be a new race for the speaker position.

Shady fucking cowards. They don't have the decency to just choose someone among their ranks to run against her fairly and squarely. Instead they want to push her out of the way in the most craven and undemocratic way possible.

Utterly shameful.

And before you even start, I have had some significant disagreements with Pelosi over the years. I also think she's fucking smart, fucking effective, fucking responsive to feedback, fucking talented at domestic diplomacy, and fucking deserves the job.

— Melissa McEwan (@Shakestweetz) November 15, 2018

Additionally: If your biggest concern right now is keeping Nancy Pelosi out of power, you've really taken your eye off the ball.

These folks should be grateful they have someone as experienced and effective as Pelosi positioned to hit the ground running in opposition to Donald Trump and the Republicans. Instead, they're resisting her.