Everybody is predicting big gains for the Democrats in
November. If they succeed in taking the House of Representatives,
that means that Nancy Pelosi is in our future. There is a lot
about her that is distinctive, notably that she would be the
first woman serving as speaker of the House, which incidentally
would put her second, after the vice president, in line for the
presidency. Exit Bush and Cheney simultaneously, enter President
Nancy Pelosi, oh my God.
It's true, as she has said several times, that "people" don't
know a great deal about her. Among other things, she serves the
San Francisco constituency, which is happily unique. But her
background is thoroughly political. Her father, Thomas
D'Alesandro, was for many years the mayor of Baltimore, and one
of her brothers also, though more briefly, served as mayor. The
brief glimpses of Pelosi given on television recently show us one
tough lady, but it pays for critics to remind themselves that she
was overwhelmingly chosen as minority leader only four years ago.
It is good fun to think that colleagues who'd have preferred
someone else chose her for fear that otherwise she would train
her unsparing eyes on them and hound them to death.
Her directness of speech was a subject Lesley Stahl of CBS'
"60 Minutes" elected last week to emphasize, asking just how did
she intend to achieve her goal of bringing civility back to
Washington given the language she tends to use about Republicans.
Pelosi, viewers were reminded, has called her Republican
colleagues "immoral" and "corrupt," suggesting that they were
backing a criminal enterprise. Stahl said: "I mean, you're one of
the reasons we have to restore civility in the first place."
Pelosi raised her eyes in unconcern. "Well, actually, when I
called them those names I was being gentle. There are much worse
things I could have said about them."
Now that is a cute forensic technique. It has two effects. The
first is to diminish the seriousness of the charges already
leveled. The second is to awaken interest in the charges being
held back in deference to civility. What are the Republicans
actually conspiring to accomplish that is more grievous than the
immorality and corruption they are already, according to Ms.
Pelosi, bringing in through their criminal enterprise?