http://www.politico.com/story/2014/11/nancy-pelosi-democrats-112962.html?cmpid=sfCongress
Democrats lash out at Pelosi
House members go on the record with rare open criticism of their leaders.
By John Bresnahan and Lauren French
11/17/14 4:47 PM EST
The discontent with Nancy Pelosi is breaking out in the open.
Democrats in the House have quietly grumbled about Pelosi since suffering devastating losses on Election Day, but there is a growing number of members willing to go public on their party leaders.
The list of grievances — from the election losses, to routine procedures erupting into nasty fights — has shaken the confidence many Democrats hold in their leader. So while Pelosi will be unchallenged for the top House Democratic post on Tuesday during a closed-door party meeting, the incoming minority leader is about to be in the worst position with her caucus since the end of their short-lived majority in 2010.
“They wiped the floor with us, so no, we’re not feeling good,” said Ohio Rep. Marcia Fudge, chairwoman of the Congressional Black Caucus. “We think clearly there was a lack of a coherent and compelling message. We believe that certainly our leadership worked hard, but there obviously was something lacking because we lost so many seats. I want to see members who have a better handle on the caucus brought in, whether they be young or old. I want people who have a good pulse of what is going on in our caucus … people who are more inclusive.”
Rank-and-file Democrats are complaining loudly that the party’s message operation failed during the election cycle. Members of the CBC are angry over the defeat of Nevada Rep. Steven Horsford. And nasty fights over ranking member spots have broken out all over the place — including another tug of war between Pelosi and Minority Whip Steny Hoyer over the top Democratic post on the Energy and Commerce Committee.
A routine internal debate over proxy voting for the ranking member posts — it hasn’t been allowed in decades — turned into national news because Illinois Rep. Tammy Duckworth, a disabled war veteran expecting her first child soon, won’t be allowed to cast her vote since she can’t travel back to Capitol Hill. The vote has led to some bitter feelings on both sides of the dispute. And Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee Chairman Steve Israel is being pressed over whether he was totally honest with his colleagues over the electoral peril they faced.
The 74-year-old Pelosi’s hold on power seems secure, but buy-in from her conference is shaken.
“When any party suffers two comprehensive midterm defeats, as we did, you’re going to have soul-searching and you’re going to have finger-pointing and I think that’s natural,” added Rep. Gerry Connolly (D-Va.) “I would hope that we will create a mechanism for rational analysis of what went wrong and why and what we can do to take correct measures to be successful in 2016 and beyond.”
Connolly and other lawmakers had suggested that the next DCCC chairman be elected by rank-and-file members, instead of being handpicked by Pelosi and then approved by the full caucus. Pelosi picked Ben Ray Luján of New Mexico for the job on Monday. “I definitely think that has some merit and should be looked at. I always believe there is benefit to be had about broadening the number of stakeholders, elected stakeholders,” Connolly said.
When unveiling her pick on Monday, Pelosi emphasized Luján’s “fresh energy and ideas.”
“[Luján is] a dynamic and forward-looking leader with fresh energy and ideas that House Democrats need for victory in 2016,” Pelosi said. “He has [a] bold vision and determined leadership to deliver wins in difficult districts.”
Most of the Democratic fingers are pointed at President Barack Obama and the White House, with lawmakers saying there was no way around the “six-year itch” that Obama faced midway through his second term.
A few Democrats — including some new members-elect such as Gwen Graham of Florida — are expected to vote against Pelosi on Tuesday, although the number of defections is still expected to be small. Pelosi has bristled at suggestions that it may be time for her to move on after a dozen years running the Democratic Caucus, dismissing questions about her age and ability.
Pelosi even told POLITICO that she might have thought about retiring if Democrats had won the House, but she needs to stay all the more because the party lost seats. That comment caused some eyes to roll in Democratic circles.
“If we had lost 30 or 40 seats, rather than the dozen we lost, then [Pelosi] would have said she’s never leaving,” joked one Democrat, speaking on condition of anonymity. “If we keep losing seats, she’ll be here until she’s 90.”
There is clearly concern throughout the Democratic Caucus that the party’s agenda and message are not resonating with voters in order for Democrats to get back into power. Some members want to break loose from blindly following Obama’s lead on big policy fights and speak out more forcefully on core Democratic priorities. Others want more of a hand in shaping the agenda. While Pelosi and her allies appear to believe that Democrats need to just tinker with the leadership team and do a better job of turning out their base, that won’t cut it with many of their colleagues.
“The president is the president; we can’t control him. Good, bad or indifferent. I think the Democratic Caucus, we can be loyal to the president, we can be part of the team, which we should to the best of our ability. But we need to focus more on middle-class issues,” said Rep. Michael Capuano of Massachusetts. “We now have lost three elections in a row based on those themes [health care, immigration, minimum wage, pay equity for women] — all of which I agree with, all of which I can run on in my district, they’re fine — but middle-class Americans are not hearing that message. When was the last time the Democratic Caucus as a caucus — not individually — really talked about jobs? For me, we don’t do that enough.”
Other Democrats, though, believe it’s a mistake to adopt a more centrist message or to try to run away from Obama.
“I still believe very strongly that we can’t be ‘Republican Lite’ and galvanize your voters. There has to be some clear lines between the candidates, and I think the lines got muddled in all too many instances,” said Rep. Jim Clyburn of South Carolina, the No. 3 House Democrat. “All you gotta do is look and see how Alison Lundergan Grimes was running until she couldn’t answer that question [whether she voted for Obama], and she started to plummet. We had some of that going on in some other places as well. I think that is what people feel.”
The disagreement over messaging and agenda is playing out at all levels of the House Democratic Caucus and will continue to do so for months to come.
Other than Pelosi, perhaps no one has felt more backlash from his colleagues than Israel, the outgoing DCCC chairman. Although some of the complaints about him may simply be veiled attempts to criticize Pelosi — Israel is very close to Pelosi, and she essentially ran the committee through him — Israel is having to defend himself in public and private.
The CBC has been highly critical over whether Horsford, a freshman, could have been saved by more DCCC cash or electoral help.
Horsford was not on the DCCC’s “Frontline” program for its most vulnerable members, and there have been questions raised over whether he should have been. Democratic sources said Horsford turned down an offer to join the program.
Israel — who metprivately with Horsford last week — suggested there was nothing that could have been done to save him in a bad year for Democrats.
“I will accept full responsibility for not doing all we should have, or for doing things we shouldn’t have, [but] this criticism is misplaced,” Israel said. “We had been talking to Steve [Horsford] for a very long time, knowing how tough that district was. I am not going to get into private conversations, but there was a consensus with his team and our team that he should not have Frontline status.”
Israel added: “When the Republicans signaled they were spending $1.1 million against him, we deployed massively for him, spent $700,000 for him, pulled staff out of other races for him. I met with him just this morning where he said, and reiterated, that the support the DCCC provided to him was invaluable and he had no criticism of it. For others who may not have been in the room during those conversations, they can say what they want to say.”
Israel also has started to try to stem frustrations from Democratic donors, who are upset with the elections. The New York Democrat held a conference call last Thursday to talk about the midterm results. Not everybody’s concerns have been quelled. Several Democratic lobbyists, who cut large contributions to the party committee and to candidates and lawmakers, said Pelosi and the DCCC in the 2016 cycle will have to make the case that they have a credible plan in place before they open their checkbooks again.
Some Democrats privately complained that Israel told rank-and-file lawmakers last week that he couldn’t tell them how bad things were across the country before the election, although Israel vehemently denied that accusation.
“One of the functions of DCCC chair and leader is to be cheerleaders. You can’t be going out there and telling people that the sky is falling. It tends to hurt recruiting and fundraising. That’s what I said,” Israel said.
But there is a clear feeling inside leadership that the DCCC is going to have to be more “hands on” with candidates if Democrats are going to be able to win tough districts in battleground states.
“Now there is the case, and some might ask, could we have prepared candidates better?” Clyburn asked. “We’re going to have to take a look at how we recruit, who we recruit, how we prepare candidates. I just think there’s a lot on that is crying out for us to do something about.”
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