Associated Press
Nancy Pelosi on Wednesday didn’t want to discuss her fateful conversation with President Joe Biden in which she expressed her concerns about Democrats losing the White House this November.
Speaking in the cathedral-like University Club of Chicago, she initially filibustered when asked about what she told Biden before he exited the 2024 race and backed Vice President Kamala Harris.
She insisted Biden’s choice was his own. But when pressed, the 84-year-old former Speaker said she needed to do what was necessary to stop Republican Donald Trump from returning to the White House.
“I wanted very much to protect his legacy,” Pelosi said of the President. “So my point was only: We need a better campaign.”
Pelosi isn’t taking explicit credit for pushing Biden to end his re-election bid and make way for Harris, a move that has transformed the presidential campaign and given Democrats new hope of beating Trump. But when she takes the stage Wednesday night at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago, Pelosi will address a crowd far more enthusiastic than it might have otherwise been, due in part to her.
Many lawmakers who were reluctant to campaign with Biden this fall are enthusiastic supporters of Harris — and her.
“Speaker Pelosi is always someone who reflects the interests of the caucus,” Democratic U.S. Rep. Elissa Slotkin of Michigan, the party’s nominee in a critical Senate race, said in an interview Wednesday before Pelosi’s speech. “Her going to President Biden and having those hard conversations, she’s reflecting a much louder chorus that was going on in the elected leaders across the Democratic caucus.”
“People who matter in Democratic politics understand that Nancy Pelosi is the most consequential Democrat of the last 50 years,” he said. “If you want something done, you go to Nancy Pelosi.”
A tough-minded leader who can use chocolates and a baseball bat
Pelosi is that rare mix of power broker and peacemaker, a lawmaker who a colleague once joked keeps both chocolates and a baseball bat in her office.
The 84-year-old has outlined a philosophy of toughness, saying that her primary motivator has been trying to help the as many as one in five children who live in poverty. She can fluently chat about the Grateful Dead and the Baltimore Ravens football team, the pride of her hometown.
She spoke to Democratic strategist David Axelrod Wednesday about her new book, “The Art of Power.” Her mission after a tumultuous few months, she said, is keeping voters focused on the election at hand and the issues that matter.
“You have to be able to take a punch, you have to be able to throw a punch … for the children,” she said to laughter from the crowd of roughly 350.
The idea from a grandmother that a boxer’s instincts are necessary to defend society’s most vulnerable spoke about how she views politics. To her, it requires tough empathy that have guided Democrats to make tough votes such as for the Affordable Care Act that seemed risky at the moment despite their ultimate popularity.
She hasn’t spoken to Biden since he dropped out
Biden has wanted to make clear that the decision to leave the race was his alone, even if Pelosi had relayed the concerns of lawmakers and Democratic voters, nearly two-thirds of whom wanted him to end his bid after his disastrous debate.
What that decision did to the relationship between two longtime allies is hard to say. Biden told reporters after his valedictory speech to the DNC Monday night that he hasn’t spoken to the former Speaker.
“No, I haven’t spoken to Nancy at all,” Biden told reporters after giving his Monday night convention speech. ”No one influenced my decision. No one knew it was coming.”
Yet what Pelosi did do was provide clarity to the President on behalf of the diverse lawmakers that she led until a few years ago, when Rep. Hakeem Jeffries, a New York Democrat, became the Democratic leader in the House.
Slotkin and other Democrats credit Jeffries as well for how he represents them. But Pelosi remains a figure on her own with a new title, “Speaker Emerita,” and a belief shared by friends and foes alike that she has unparalleled influence behind the scenes.
Democrats are now betting — as Pelosi has before — that the hardest choices can also be the best ones.
“Do I think that this was one of the hardest decisions I’ve seen any leader make in my lifetime? Absolutely,” Slotkin said. “Do I think it was the right decision? Absolutely. Do I think President Biden will go down in history as one of the most patriotic presidents? Absolutely.”
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Republished with permission of The Associated Press.
16 comments
Leonard
August 21, 2024 at 6:33 pm
Words matter. Call it what it…she wasn’t part of the Biden-Harris “switch”…she was part of the Biden-Harris “coup”….the most undemocratic method used to pick a Presidential candidate in U.S. history.
Michael K
August 22, 2024 at 8:24 am
coup: noun. a sudden, violent, and unlawful seizure of power from a government.
Far from it. The change from President Biden to Vice President Harris handed the torch to the next generation. Of more than 3,000 delegates, only 30 voted present.
The only people who seem to be screaming “undemocratic” are Republicans, who are understandably terrified. Democrats are united and on fire.
rick whitaker
August 21, 2024 at 6:36 pm
LEONARD, are you not watching the dem convention? you sound like a maga cultist
Day 31
August 21, 2024 at 7:11 pm
Only zombies will watch the wicked witch of the west. A horrible human being who is completely senile at 84 and has poorly represented San Francisco. She is an embarrassment.
rick whitaker
August 21, 2024 at 7:31 pm
day 31, could you be anymore childish, i think not
Day 31
August 21, 2024 at 7:46 pm
She is a despicable person. Only a complete brainwashed zombie like yourself could support that mean spirited classless witch.
Ocean Joe
August 22, 2024 at 5:25 am
She got the Affordable Care Act through congress. You may have free medical care through the VA, but 25 million Americans got health care, insurance companies can no longer deny coverage for preexisting conditions (that applies to ALL of us), no more lifetime caps, not really the act of someone despicable. That would be Donald who foolishly thought the GOP had some alternate plan to replace it. The obvious truth is, as usual, some are public servants, some serve themselves.
Day 32
August 22, 2024 at 6:02 am
I do not receive free medical care through the VA. Wicked Pelosi did get the ACA through Congress and never read a page of it. Remember what she said back then?
rick whitaker
August 22, 2024 at 10:50 pm
day 32 howler monkey, you are a poor judge of character.
Ocean Joe
August 22, 2024 at 5:28 am
LEONARD is, as the kids say, ‘butthurt’ over Biden dropping out, so his Fuhrer will have a harder time getting elected and finishing off everything decent.
Super Elvis
August 21, 2024 at 7:14 pm
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Cindy
August 21, 2024 at 9:58 pm
All. That me myself and I. From a comment on MSN..
All that if you are late with a check its a felony. No job, and prison if you go homeless. I will stick to climate change.
Super Elvis
August 22, 2024 at 6:34 am
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Thanks again for reaching out Cindy,
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Michael K
August 22, 2024 at 8:34 am
What is it with these MAGAs and their fear of women? Siome of the commenters here can’t hide their disdain and disrespect and hate for strong, accomplished women.
Watching this convention is showing what America really looks like. That’s why Republicans are so afraid. MAGA is stuck in the past and trying to drag us all backward and control our lives.
Day 32
August 22, 2024 at 4:30 pm
So in your head we are all MAGA’s? I can make that same assumption then and label you as a “Hamas Terrorist Supporting Democrat” or how about a “Defund the Police Democrat”? I have no problem with strong willed women. I am married to one. Again Michael for the umpteenth time, I pee standing up. Pelosi is a bully. She doesn’t like anyone that goes against her. She is drunk on power when she isn’t hitting the martinis. Her tearing up the State of The Union Address was telling as it was personal with her towards Trump. She had her hair done in a San Francisco salon during Covid when local ordinances required them to be closed. She also didn’t wear a mask. She is a classic “do as I say, not as I do” person. Yes I don’t respect that evil woman. She is 84 and definitely losing her mind.
rick whitaker
August 22, 2024 at 10:54 pm
DAY 32, you are just jealous of nancy because she is so much better of a person than you are. you maga nuts are jealous of everything dem it seems.
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