GOP Wish Come True: Dems Keep Pelosi as Leader

Democrats have suffered heavy losses in the House and Senate and state houses since the ascension of Nancy Pelosi to a leadership position.

The House Democrats have just rendered their judgment: no problemo!

Nancy Pelosi retains her job as minority leader, fending off a challenge from Ohio Rep. Tim Ryan.

The vote, by secret ballot, wasn't even close: 134-63 for Pelosi.

In an editorial published before Pelosi's victory, the Wall Street Journal commented:

Mr. Ryan, a seven-term Congressman who represents northeast Ohio around Youngstown, has promised to bridge the party’s cultural chasm with white, working-class voters. The 43-year-old has also pledged to decentralize power and reinvigorate the Democratic caucus’s aging leadership.

That leadership is personified by the 76-year-old Mrs. Pelosi, who has ruled House Democrats since 2002 like Boss Tweed ran Tammany Hall—rewarding loyalty with campaign cash and committee assignments. She has responded to Mr. Ryan’s challenge by expanding the top echelons with even more attendants.

This patronage system has helped Mrs. Pelosi build support among the Congressional Black and Hispanic caucuses, which will make up an estimated 70 of the 194 Democrats seats next year. Democrats also don’t have term limits for committee chairs, which has frozen young members out of influence. All of this has magnified the caucus’s insularity and its swing to the political left.

Ryan, whose voting record is similar to Pelosi's, stressed that he represents the very voters the Democrats lost in this year's presidential election:

"[I]t is clear as we learn more about the outcome of our elections that we're ignoring crucial voices that deserve to be heard. The people I represent in Northeast Ohio and the tens of millions of workers across our country are proud to be called blue collar," he said in a statement.

Alluding to massive Democratic losses during the time the Pelosi has been in the leadership, the National Republican Congressional Committee draped a "Hire Pelosi" banner across the entrance to their headquarters.