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Pelosi comes across as a shrill anti-military, anti-prayer, sharply partisan super-liberal who angrily insults Republican foes as "immoral" and refuses to work with them on anything.

Hillary Rodham Clinton says she wants Democrats to win the House and make San Francisco's Nancy Pelosi the first woman speaker, but that might ruin Clinton's 2008 dreams.

It's just the hard-edged image that Clinton has tried to avoid for herself by co-sponsoring laws with Republicans, being (often) cordial to them, and even going to their prayer groups.

"The one good thing that would come from a Speaker Pelosi is the first taste of a feminist in a nationally visible executive role," says GOP pollster Kellyanne Conway.

"Her shrill yet glib and often emotional performances could collaterally damage Hillary's chances in '08 because there would not be room for two such women on the national stage."

A Democratic strategist puts it this way: "Pelosi could become the poster child of a leftwing woman politician - and Hillary gets put into the same basket, especially since people already suspect she's too liberal."

Clinton is slowly edging away from support for the Iraqi war but Pelosi opposed it from the git-go and goes a lot further, even insisting "I don't think [it] makes us any safer" to capture Osama bin Laden.

The public may be souring on Iraq, but it's not a mainstream position to dismiss capturing Osama as worthless.

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Pelosi is tough as nails and knows how to instill loyalty.

"I believe that this Caucus of the House Democratic Women is one of the greatest forces for good in our country."

By the age of seven, little Nancy was already doing constituent services from the family living room.

"I knew how to answer the phone and tell people how to get a hospital bed or who to call to go into a project."

Her mother, an early feminist, taught Pelosi she could grow up to do anything. And Pelosi learned some valuable political lessons just watching her father.

"You have to work hard and you also have to know the numbers. You have to know how you can win an election. . . going into election, they'd sit around the table and they had these yellow legal pads and they'd say, `How many votes does it take to win,' and it's still the same thing.

Capitol Hill is still very much a male-oriented old boys club. So for her to have risen to be the leader of the party, I think is a rather phenomenal accomplishment

Pelosi hopes someday to break through, as she calls it, the marble ceiling of the Capitol.

She is not going to back down at all. We've--we asked her that question over and over again, and she says the Democrats have nothing to apologize for. She will, as she says over and over again, stand her ground.

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Harriet Woods, former president of the National Women's Political Caucus, says the first female speaker would be significant: "In many ways a woman Speaker will be more important" than a female president, Woods said. "Just think of Newt Gingrich. It's really the closest thing we have to a parliamentary selection."

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[ 07 November 2006: Message edited by: Michelle ]

She is not even one of the 62 members of the Progressive Caucus in the outgoing House (only one of whom was elected as a socialist.) Still, she was a member of it until she become leader; as leader of all House Democrats, she has a policy of not belonging to any individual caucuses. In fact she seems to have been an executive member, so perhaps she was as close to a socialist as can be found within the Democratic party.

[ 07 November 2006: Message edited by: Wilf Day ]

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Nancy Pelosi voted FOR the USA Patriot Act in 2001. The Board of Supervisors then passed an ordinance forbidding city employees from cooperating with the execution of the USA Patriot Act.

She has voted FOR every dime of war money that George W. Bush has demanded -- unlike her Bay Area colleagues, Barbara Lee, Lynn Woolsey, and Pete Stark, among others.

She has defied Proposition N, the 2004 ballot measure calling for the immediate withdrawal of the troops. Though it passed in San Francisco by a landslide, in May 2005 she voted AGAINST the Woolsey Amendment, calling for the creation of a timetable for the removal of US troops from Iraq. And when Congressman Murtha of Pennsylvania proposed the withdrawal of US troops from Iraq in late 2005, she responded, "Representative Murtha speaks for himself." She did not get on board with calls for the withdrawal of US troops from Iraq until Matt Gonzalez and Medea Benjamin began to make noises about running for Congress (both declined).

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Miss AIPAC:

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"The greatest threat to Israel's right to exist, with the prospect of devastating violence, now comes from Iran. For too long, leaders of both political parties in the United States have not done nearly enough to confront the Russians and the Chinese, who have supplied Iran as it has plowed ahead with its nuclear and missile technology."

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Originally posted by Wilf Day:
...so perhaps she was as close to a socialist as can be found within the Democratic party.

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This was the woman who said of Hugo Chavez, "Hugo Chavez fancies himself a modern-day Simon Bolivar, but all he is, is an everyday thug."

Pelosi has vowed to “drain the swamp’’ of Republican ethics within 100 hours of the new Congress being sworn in next January, promising moves to raise the minimum wage, raise ethical standards, lower drug prices, end subsidies for big oil companies, make student loans more affordable and implement all the recommendations of the Sept. 11 Commission.

from: Angry voters punish Bush

[ 08 November 2006: Message edited by: Boom Boom ]

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Nancy Pelosi should be understood as someone who has supported George Bush for the last six years. She voted for a motion for unequivocal support for George Bush’s conduct of the war in Iraq, and she led the Democratic Party to vote for that. So she is someone who has been committed to the policies that the U.S. government has followed.

There’s nothing in particular that she’s known for on any specific issue. But because she comes from San Francisco, they imbue to her certain qualities and positions, and to me, there’s no evidence of their existence.
Source: The Real Record of Nancy Pelosi

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Pelosi, who voted against invading Iraq, said the Democrats' victory meant the American people were calling for a "new direction."

And she was adamant about a new direction for the war in Iraq. "This is something that we must work on together with the president. We know that 'stay the course' is not working," she said.

from: www.cnn.com/2006/POLITICS/11/08/election.main/index.html

ETA: I just read Spector's link in full. The writer also mentions Pelosi voted against invading Iraq, but goes further. It appears that Pelosi is lacking on foreign issues, but would still be a huge improvement over Bush on domestic policy - at least that's my read of her.

[ 09 November 2006: Message edited by: Boom Boom ]

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Originally posted by arborman:
Sure, she's not perfect. But when I look along the political and progressive continuum between me and the Republican right, Pelosi is a hell of a lot closer to me (Dare I say us?) than the Republicans.

Not a total victory for progressive values, but there is no denying that things have shifted a bit. And given the unlikelihood of major shifts, I'll take what I can get.

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Los Angeles is generally considered the second biggest metropolitan area in the USA, after New York. Then there's Chicago, then Washington, and San Francisco is fifth.

Northern California, centred on San Francisco, has 21 Representatives, against 32 for Southern California. But Illinois (centred on Chicago) has only 19, and the District of Columbia (by a weird quirk of one of the world's weirdest electoral systems) has only one.

Pelosi has vowed to “drain the swamp’’ of Republican ethics within 100 hours of the new Congress being sworn in next January, promising moves to raise the minimum wage, raise ethical standards, lower drug prices, end subsidies for big oil companies, make student loans more affordable and implement all the recommendations of the Sept. 11 Commission.

Two of the women are the Co-Chairwomen of the 62-Member Congressional Progressive Caucus, U.S. Representatives Lynn Woolsey and Barbara Lee.

Then there's Zoe Lofgren and Anna Eshoo, who seem to have progessive support although not members of the Progressive Caucus.

And Nancy Pelosi, who used to be on the executive of the Progressive Caucus.

And the nine men aren't bad either. Sam Farr, Pete Stark, Tom Lantos, and George Miller are members of the Progressive Caucus.

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The eight new Democratic women elected to the U.S. House this week puts the number of Democratic women in the House at 50, the highest level ever ... and we’re still counting.

Five races are yet to be decided that could increase the ranks of Democratic women in the House: FL-13, OH-02, OH-15, NM-01 and WA-08. EMILY's List members are also anticipating an additional victory in Louisiana, where State Representative Karen Carter advanced to the December 9th run-off against Rep. Jefferson in LA-02.

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Gabrielle Giffords, 36, (Arizona Dist. 08, Tucson-based), a Fulbright scholar with a master’s degree in regional planning, owns a commercial property management company and is the former president and CEO of her family’s tire business. She won a seat in the Arizona House in 2000; in 2002, she became the youngest woman ever elected to the state Senate. She entered local politics dissatisfied with her state’s health care and public education policies. “I don’t come from a political background, but I did know how to walk,” Giffords says of her first campaign, when she defeated five opponents in a Republican district. “I started knocking on doors and listening to my neighbors talk about what’s important to them.”

Kirsten Gillibrand, 39, (New York Dist. 20, Hudson Valley), lawyer, founder and chair of the Women’s Leadership Forum Network, which encourages political activism among women under 40. As a child, she campaigned door-to-door with her grandmother who founded the area's first women's Democratic club and was a pioneer for women's rights in the region.

Kathy Castor, 40, (Florida Dist. 11, Tampa-based), has a bachelor's degree in political science and a law degree. As a member of the Hillsborough County Commission since 2002, Kathy has a strong record on health care - working to stop seniors and other patients in the county health care plan from being forced into HMO’s. Kathy has stood up to the big developers to protect wetlands and to make developers pay their share of the cost of new roads and schools.

Betty Sutton, 42, (Ohio Dist. 13), a labor lawyer for unions representing fire fighters, emergency medical technicians, teachers, and nurses, a former state legislator, supported by Progressive Democrats of America.

Mazie Hirono, 59, (Hawaii Dist. 02), the first immigrant woman of Asian descent to win statewide office in the U.S. Her mother left Japan and an abusive husband when Hirono was eight and raised three children on her own in Hawaii, with very little to live on. When she was still quite young, Hirono began working to help support the family. She worked her way through the University of Hawaii, where she became involved in protests against the Vietnam War. After managing two state legislative campaigns, Hirono went to law school and embarked on her own political career, serving in the Hawaii House from 1981 until 1994 and as lieutenant governor from 1994 until 2002. Hirono narrowly lost a bid for governor in 2002. The second district was represented for many years by Patsy Mink, the first woman of color to serve in Congress and co-author of Title IX, landmark legislation outlawing gender discrimination in public schools. Hirono is the founding chair of the Patsy T. Mink Political Action Committee, which is dedicated to electing pro-choice Democratic women to office in Hawaii. “It’s an honor to run for this seat in particular,” Hirono says. “I feel a deep connection to her and her philosophies.”

(Note: Elizabeth Holtzman, the youngest woman ever to serve in Congress, elected at the age of 31, is now 65.)

[ 12 November 2006: Message edited by: Wilf Day ]

- Letter from Thomas Jefferson to a friend in 1798 following passage of the Alien and Sedition Acts

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Democrats and their supporters might do well to pause in their euphoria over the November 7 elections and take heed of the above advice. I for one as a populist found myself not particularly thrilled with the way the Democrats were gaining decided majority control in the House and a tenuous edge in the Senate.

Watching many Democrats rush to fill the "centrist" vacuum left by the neocon Republican desire to please its base left me with the uncomfortable feeling that compromise legislation in conjunction with threats of Presidential vetoes and efforts to favorably position themselves in the 2008 elections will leave us with only token progressive legislation during the next two years. Al Krebs

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Newly elected women Democrats in the House include Gabrielle Giffords, 36 . . .

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In her first winning campaign in 2004 she said:

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the perspective of women in my generation should be a larger part of public political debate. We have a lot to offer to the dialogue on a host of issues, from education and economic growth to agriculture, health care and national security.

In my last campaign, because South Dakota has never elected a woman to the U.S. House, we started the process of political socialization of younger women and girls, which we have continued after we lost. They are one of strongest motivating factors for me to try again — to show that young women who work hard and are able to achieve professionally early in their careers can have confidence and build a network to run for public office and serve their state and country.

I would start with my grandmother, because she gets short shrift in the media attention paid to my family. She was the first one to run for public office. She ran for superintendent of county schools in Brown County in the 1930s and helped put her nieces through college. She was a very strong first lady when my grandfather was governor, and was elected secretary of state in the 1970s after my grandfather passed away.

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After graduating from high school as valedictorian, she headed straight for Washington, spending eight years at Georgetown University earning three degrees -- a bachelor's, a master's in government, and a law degree. Herseth went on to intern in South Dakota Senator Tim Johnson's office, clerk for federal judges in South Dakota and Maryland, teach at Georgetown University law school, and work for a Washington law firm.

Moving back to South Dakota in 2001, she ran against Rep. Bill Janklow in 2002, losing by 7%, and remained in South Dakota gearing up for her next race for office, leading the newly formed South Dakota Farmers Union Legal Foundation. Janklow resigned his seat, effective January 20, 2004 when he was convicted of manslaughter after speeding through a stop sign in his Cadillac and killing a motorcyclist.

Herseth was first elected to Congress in June 2004, winning a special election to fill the vacant seat, and winning again in November 2004.

Herseth has become one of the chamber's most vocal champions of ethanol. In doing so, she has helped to shore up her political prospects in an agricultural conservative state where ethanol is an important industry, and has also begun to make a name for herself in Washington.

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She has worked on energy and telecommunications issues for the South Dakota Public Utilities Commission in Pierre and organized commission meetings with tribal leaders regarding utility regulation on the Rosebud and Pine Ridge Indian reservations. She also worked with the Legal Counsel for the Elderly, providing assistance to those unable to afford legal services on issues relating to housing, Medicare and Social Security.

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Even the Black Congress was estatic when Rice was named first to NSC and then as Secretary of State.

Then he also made Gonzales the first Hispanic Attorney General.

While Bill CLinton and other Democratic powers speak the words of support for women and minorities, they never found the way to promote them to the highest offices of the USA.

If you do look back at histroy, it has always been "conservatives" that have pushed the glass ceilings open for women and minorities.

The left side of the political spectrum rarely walked the talk.

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Relax. There's nothing to get excited about. Pelosi is by no means a San Francisco liberal. She's a Washington insider, a born and bred politician who cares more about power and money than she does about any particular ideology.

I'm glad the Democrats are in charge, and Pelosi deserves tremendous credit for making that happen. But she's not about to push any kind of ambitious left-wing political or cultural agenda.

Just look at her record. Pelosi was weak on the war and late in opposing it. She was the author of the bill that gave that well-known pauper George Lucas the lucrative contract to build a commercial office building in a national park. She worked with Republicans such as Don Fisher of the Gap on the Presidio privatization and set a precedent for the National Park System that the most rabid antigovernment conservatives can love.

Just this week Bloomberg News reported that Pelosi is working with Silicon Valley venture capital firms to weaken the post-Enron Sarbanes-Oxley law, which mandates strict accounting procedures for publicly held corporations.

And just a couple of weeks before the election, she told 60 Minutes that same-sex marriage is "not an issue that we're fighting about here."

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http://www.nytimes.com/2006/11/17/us/politics/17cong.html

an (apparently) wild column tearing up Pelosi for her first people decisions today in NYTimes op-ed, Maureen Dowd column;
http://tinyurl.com/y6csyo

need pass, anybody got full access??

[ 18 November 2006: Message edited by: Geneva ]

Glass ceilings get broken by people who play the game and support the status quo in most ways, and emulate the people in power. The first woman to break the glass ceiling on the board of a corporation isn't going to get there by being radical. She's going to get there by trying to one of the old boys as much as possible.

People - especially conservatives - are threatened by women and minorities who actually want to change the system. That's not to say that those men and women who break glass ceilings aren't doing something valuable - they are. Those who follow them can be more and more representative of the opinions of the majority in their respective groups. But in order to break that ceiling to begin with, you have to act like the people in power. If you don't, you'll never be given the opportunity.

It's certainly nothing to be proud of as a Conservative that the only way women and minorities can break glass ceilings is if they act like selfish Conservative asses. Sure, you guys usher them through because you think they're not so threatening as long as they work to keep the rest of their group down. Like horrible women like Schafly who had a wonderful career outside the home and lots of positive strokes from Conservatives because she worked hard outside the home to try to keep her sisters barefoot and pregnant. Or people like Condi who make sure that lots of people of colour all around the world are killed and oppressed by the white men she works for.

Yeah, you Conservatives are really wonderful. You've got all the Uncle Toms breaking glass ceilings all over the place!

It's not an accident that women and people of colour with much more liberal views aren't elected as much in our racist society, and that people would much rather vote for women and visible minorities who prop up the current system.

[ 18 November 2006: Message edited by: Michelle ]

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Originally posted by Michelle:
Glass ceilings get broken by people who play the game and support the status quo in most ways, and emulate the people in power.

That's not to say that those men and women who break glass ceilings aren't doing something valuable - they are. Those who follow them can be more and more representative of the opinions of the majority in their respective groups. But in order to break that ceiling to begin with, you have to act like the people in power.

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She wouldn't even TALK about the possibility of impeachment. Nothing progressive will come out from her.

[ 18 November 2006: Message edited by: babblerwannabe ]