House Speaker Nancy Pelosi failed to protect Democrats from being attacked as socialists and tied to the extreme left wing of the party, which contributed to the loss of several congressional seats, according to colleagues in the House.
The Washington Post reported Democrats held a tense call that lasted more than three hours, which included many members feeling dismayed that they failed to have a better showing in light of President Trump’s popularity and handling of the coronavirus.
Rep. Abigail Spanberger, D-Va., reportedly got heated and said, “We need to not ever use the word ‘socialist’ ever again… We lost good members because of that.” She continued, “If we are classifying Tuesday as a success… we will get f**ing torn apart in 2022.”
Rep. Cedric Richmond, D-La., told CBS’ “Face the Nation” on Sunday that movements such as “Defund the police” hurt the party.
“Some titles hurt,” Richmond said in an interview. “‘Defunding the police’ is a title that hurts Democrats, especially when the fact of the matter is nobody is calling for defunding the police. We’re calling for reinventing how we police communities in this country, how we do criminal justice.”
The paper, citing multiple people who were on the call who spoke on the condition of anonymity, reported that centrists in the party blamed positions like “defunding the police” as one of the major vulnerabilities.
As of last Friday, Pelosi’s House lost seven incumbents. Politico reported the number could increase to about a dozen. The report said the fallout “means the House is indeed in play in 2022.”
Pelosi said, “We held the House, that was our goal. If we could win more, that would be good. We’re still in the hunt for a number of seats right now.”
She said Democrats lost some battles but “we won the war. We have the gavel.”
President Trump and his supporters have pointed to the down-ticket Democrats and their lack of success as evidence Biden’s success in swing states should be looked at again. The Wall Street Journal reported that Pelosi’s comment on winning the war was troublesome to centrist lawmakers who say policies such as the “Green New Deal” will continue to haunt the party.
“I think progressives are going to make this argument that Democrats just weren’t progressive enough,” said Rep. Stephanie Murphy, D-Fla. “Either they are already partaking in the mushrooms that D.C. approved, they are living in their own fiction here.”
TRENDPOST: Joe Biden, the president-elect, has said one of his top priorities after being elected would be to bring the country together after four years under President Trump.
But shortly before media outlets named him the president-elect, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., the leader of “The Squad,” posted on Twitter, “Is anyone archiving these Trump sycophants for when they try to downplay or deny their complicity in the future? I foresee the decent probability of many deleted tweets, writings, photos in the future. Lol at the ‘party of personal responsibility’ being upset at the idea of being responsible for their behavior over the last four years.”
TREND FORECAST: Should Joe Biden win the election, in essence, considering who ran his campaign and who his advisors are, it will be a return of the Barack Obama team to the White House.
Thus, Biden’s domestic, economic, and foreign policy will be a mirror image of the Obama presidency.
Moreover, there is a high likelihood that before his term expires, old Joe Biden may retire, thus paving the way for Vice President Kamala Harris to take over the White House and be well positioned to be a 2024 Presidential Reality Show® superstar.
