Scott Brown’s stunning upset victory in Massachusetts has reshuffled the Senate, but its immediate consequences have fallen hardest on House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who now faces perhaps the defining moment of her career.
Tuesday’s loss of the 60-vote Democratic Senate majority means Pelosi must shoulder the main burden of salvaging President Barack Obama’s health care reform deal, even as she copes with an uprising among Democratic incumbents terrified by the far-reaching implications of the party’s Massachusetts meltdown.
If she manages to thread this legislative needle and pass a real health reform bill, the San Francisco Democrat would most likely go down as one the most powerful speakers in history.
If she fails, she could be relegated to the crowded ranks of liberals who have aimed high and fallen flat.
“She knows exactly what happened in Massachusetts,” says Brian Wolff, a longtime Pelosi adviser. “She’s going to listen to her caucus, and she’s only going to do what can get done. [Health care] is a big issue, and she needs to pass something they can run on. ... She’s going to do what’s best for her caucus first and foremost.”
When an aide informed Pelosi of Brown’s win around 9 p.m. Tuesday, the speaker summoned her leadership team to her office at the Capitol, ejected her staff and attacked her options as if her career depended on it.
On Wednesday, while other Democrats sulked, Pelosi declared her intention to pass health care reform — and strategized with Obama, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.), the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, the freshman and sophomore caucuses, the Blue Dogs, progressives and more than a dozen outside consultants and advisers. - Politico Story
No comments:
Post a Comment