For Some Democrats, The Time Has Come To Leave Pelosi Behind
With all eyes on special elections, Democrats are spending millions to edge out a win.
But nevertheless, all the money spent and claims of an energized base still leave the party with only moral victories and no tangible gains.
Now, some House Democrats are questioning the effectiveness of their campaign committee and the leadership of Nancy Pelosi.
Instead these members have opted to support a new political organization and plans to insulate candidates in the Midwest and Appalachia from Pelosi and the coastal elite.
At least three House Democrats are backing a new political organization that aims to give progressive candidates in the Midwest and Appalachia a new form of support that isn’t dependent on the Democratic Party’s coastal financial elite.
The People’s House Project, founded by former MSNBC host and 2010 Virginia congressional candidate Krystal Ball, has begun interviewing candidates and recruiting donors for the new political action committee. The organization, which will go public on Tuesday, will provide money, guidance, and political connections for the candidates it chooses to run under its banner.
Democrats experiencing a surge of grassroots activism in the wake of Donald Trump’s election have struggled to translate that energy into clear victories. The party improved its performance but has still fallen short of winning three straight special elections in Kansas, Georgia (which goes into a runoff in June), and Montana. Republicans have commanded a solid majority of the House since 2010.
But Ball was more willing to directly attack the Democratic Party’s leadership in the House — and cast the new effort as an attempt to break with it. Some political analysts say Democratic candidates are weighed down by what the Cook Political Report calls the “Pelosi Factor.” In the home stretch of several House elections, including Thursday’s Montana race, Republicans have deployed images of Pelosi in attack ads to go after their Democratic opponents.
“She’s an impediment to every House Democrat in the country except for a few coastal enclaves,” Ball said in an interview. Candidates running under the People’s House Project will be able to say they’re of a different cast than Pelosi and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, Ball said.