I'm starting to think that Pelosi might be a lifer. The woman is truly past her welcome. She's been the Democratic House Leader for 19 years, longer than any other Leader of either party, in either House, with the sole exception of Sam Rayburn. Democrats sorely need to remove her from her position, but unfortunately, because of her political connections and fundraising strength, they won't.
That's obviously not true. She has the resounding support of the party, both in Congress and among the base. She's one of the greatest Speakers ever to serve. Even the greats have their setbacks, as with BBB for this Congress. If you point out the overall popularity of Congressional leadership, it is almost invariably bad. I do recall Pelosi's numbers reaching their best when she fought hard against Trump and launched the first impeachment. There was no one better suited to taking on Trump than Nancy Pelosi.
I do think there is a strong element of sexism in many of those that attack her. There are legitimate areas of criticism, yes. However, I rarely hear them levelled at anyone else in leadership, which are basically all men in both parties and both sides of the Capitol.
I don't take her announcement necessarily as one that means she'll serve as leader of the party or even serve her entire next term. If she announced her retirement now, she'd be a lame duck and her power would disappear in an instant. Assuming Democrats lose the House (as is likely now), I think she wants to have a role in establishing her successor. No one knows the job like her. If the Democratic Party is to have a strong leader going forward, I'd feel a lot better if they had Nancy Pelosi's seal of approval. I've seen the recent disastrous Republican Speakers and leadership and I'm not anxious to copy them there. The fact that Pelosi has held the reins as leader of the party for this long is a testament to her power and skills. I'm not someone that gets excited about having new blood for the sake of having new blood. I want a strong leader than can keep control and always win on the floor where and when it counts.
