There are no doubt many ambitious Democrats who would love to unseat Nancy Pelosi from her leadership position as leader of the party in Congress. Heath Shuler (D-NC) has announced openly that he will challenge Pelosi for minority leader when the Dems get organized next January.
But Shuler, being a back bencher, has little chance - especially if the Democrats who are upset with Pelosi for her part in the electoral debacle on Tuesday can coalesce around a stronger candidate.
The Hill:
But for as far as liberals have gotten out in front of Pelosi's decision, centrists have been just as vocal about their opposition to the Speaker."I don't think it's likely that I would support her were she to run for minority leader," Rep. Jason Altmire (D-Pa.) said Thursday evening on Fox News. "I don't know who the other candidates are going to be, but if she is one of the candidates, I probably won't vote that way."
Rep. Dan Boren (D-Okla.), a conservative Democrat and another longtime critic of Pelosi, said he "cannot in good conscience" support her as minority leader, and would support a more conservative Democrat instead.
Rep. Heath Shuler (D-N.C.) and Rep. Jim Matheson (D-Utah), the co-chairman of the Blue Dog Democrats, have also said that Pelosi should step aside, joining the other incumbent Democrats and candidates who had said they would oppose Pelosi as Speaker if Democrats had retained their majority status, during the closing weeks of the campaign.
Incredibly, liberals seem to be perfectly satisfied with Pelosi, for the most part. They think they lost because the party didn't fight hard enough for liberal reforms the last two years and they're not going to blame Pelosi for that.
Let's hope such delusional thinking lasts beyond 2012.
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