Nancy Pelosi is fighting for her political life.
After Pelosi’s party suffered a string of defeats late into the vote tallying process of the 2022 midterms, Democrats began calling for her resignation.
But now, Pelosi just made one shocking move to cling to power.
With a series of Congressional defeats in several western states, Democrats appear all but certain to lose control over the lower chamber of Congress.
And now that the path to retaining their majority over the House no longer appears to be viable, many political observers were expecting Nancy Pelosi’s political career to come crashing down.
Afterall, Pelosi herself had previously put out statements suggesting she would be stepping down, and with Democrats on track to be defeated in the House, the assumption that Pelosi would retire has only grown.
What’s more, even some Democrats are calling for Pelosi to step aside in the wake of what appears to be a certain defeat in the battle for control over the House of Representatives.
But Pelosi herself stunned the country with one shocking about face, and now she just made one desperate move to cling to power.
Axios reports, “House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) said Sunday her congressional colleagues are encouraging her to run for another term as Democratic leader.
The comment is the starkest indication yet that Pelosi is mulling another run for the position she’s held variably as speaker and minority leader for nearly two decades.”
This pivot comes as a shock to some, but acute political observers would not be surprised that Pelosi has managed to cling to power far longer than many had expected.
And while Pelosi had previously signaled that she was going to be retiring or resigning from Congress, several conservatives had long since expected that she would not leave her position of power quietly, even in the face of growing opposition from within her own party.
Axios adds, “In a CNN “State of the Union” interview, Pelosi said “of course” she will make a decision about re-election to the position before the Democrats’ leadership elections on Nov. 30.”
Now that the ballot counting in several swing districts is finally coming to an end, it appears clear that Pelosi will lose her position as Speaker of the House.
But that does not mean that Pelosi will be stepping down as leader of the Democratic Caucus in the House.
If anything, Pelosi’s recent comments serve as an about face to the previously anticipated retirement announcement that several had expected Pelosi to make in the aftermath of a midterm defeat.
And the fact that she is now putting out word that many in her own caucus are “asking” her to stay in power represents the first move by Pelosi to probe the possibility of retaining her position, even in the face of growing anger by fellow Democrats against Pelosi’s long-time control over the party’s House caucus.
The only question now is whether or not the Democrat establishment is powerful enough to deliver the votes needed to keep Pelosi around, even in the face of this looming midterm defeat.
