The Power of Nancy Pelosi

The Power of Nancy Pelosi
Can the Democrats' polarizing leader chart a path to victory in the 2018 midterm elections?

By Tim Dickinson

Nancy Pelosi sits in a black-leather booth at Americana, a burger bistro in downtown Des Moines, radiating optimism. "We're in a very good place," she says of Democrats' odds in November. Special-election results suggest more than 100 seats in the House of Representatives are in play, and Democrats need less than two dozen to regain a majority. At the prospect of a victory that could check Trump's power – and, Pelosi expects, reinstall her as House speaker – she bangs a piece of cutlery, hard, on the table. "The gavel," she says. "The gavel makes all the difference in the world." She breaks from her reverie to note the absurdity of the scene – "I didn't mean to pick up the knife," she apologizes, laughing – then adds, "Awesome power. The speaker has awesome power."

The San Francisco Democrat has been here before. She engineered the party's rebound from the abyss of John Kerry's 2004 loss to George W. Bush, leading Democrats to power two years later, when she broke the "marble ceiling," becoming the highest-ranking elected woman in American history. As speaker, she stewarded passage of the Recovery Act, Wall Street reform and, her proudest achievement, the Affordable Care Act. Pelosi never inspired a cult of personality in the manner of Ruth Bader Ginsburg, but those who've fought in the trenches with her, like Phil Schiliro, President Obama's legislative-affairs director, tout Pelosi's "incredible tenacity" and legislative prowess: "She would rather chew glass than lose a vote."...

Pelosi believes the GOP is simply afraid of her. "I've made some very powerful, rich enemies," she says. "I don't think we should allow our opponents to choose the leaders of the Democratic Party. But that's what they're trying to do." Her strategy in the face of the Republican onslaught is to grin and bear it. "I don't spend money to take my numbers back up," she says. "I'd rather spend the money on the candidates who win than getting into a tickle contest with a skunk over this stuff." DNC Chair Tom Perez also shrugs off the Pelosi attacks as a sign of "desperation" from a GOP that can't defend cutting taxes for the wealthiest or raising health care premiums for the middle class....

Looking ahead, Pelosi frets about what she can't control. The trouble with Trump, she admits, is the spectacle: "I don't like that everything is concentrated on porn stars. It's hard to break in and say, 'Wait a minute: He's terrible, but his policies are worse.'?" She's less concerned about chatter on the Hill that her time is up. "I think some of it is a little bit on the sexist side," she says. "Has anyone asked what's-his-name, the one who's the head of Senate" – referring to Mitch McConnell, whose favorability rating is, in fact, lower than hers – "?'How much longer do you think you'll stay in this job?' Nobody ever says that to anybody except a woman." Her eyes flash. "But you know what? You get the upside and the downside of it." Are Democrats really going to turn away from a history-making leader if she can guide them to victory in the "Year of the Woman"? "It's a question," Pelosi insists, "of who can fight this man in the White House."

https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/features/nancy-pelosi-power-democrats-midterm-elections-w521798