In a recent conversation with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Rahm Emanuel offered some advice on a Democratic House leadership race. Pelosi’s response, according to several Democratic sources: It is “an internal House Democratic Caucus matter, and we’ll handle it.”
Democratic insiders say there’s no animosity between Pelosi and Emanuel, who’s leaving his post as chairman of the House Democratic Caucus to become the next White House chief of staff.
But the speaker is laying down the law nonetheless.
In talks with Emanuel and others, sources say, Pelosi has “set parameters” for what she wants from Barack Obama and his White House staff — no surprises, and no backdoor efforts to go around her and other Democratic leaders by cutting deals with moderate New Democrats or conservative Blue Dogs.
Specifically, Pelosi has told Emanuel that she wants to know when representatives of the incoming administration have any contact with her rank-and-file Democrats — and why, sources say.
Given that Pelosi is bereft of ideas other than mindless parroting of received liberal dogma, this can’t be a move to ensure ideological purity – its likely just a power play where Pelosi wants to be Queen of the Hill who is in the loop on all Obama legislative efforts, thus allowing Pelosi to be the dispenser of swag to the Democratic caucus. As a Speaker Pelosi has been a utter failure with even a weakened and lame-duck President Bush able to run rings around her – Pelosi wants an end to that.
This will be rather interesting to watch – Democrats have no ideas and they are mostly just a collection of corrupt special interests united in defense of abortion and in opposition to the GOP. Elitist and very self assured, Democrats view power as their birth right and with their coming take over on January 20th, the universe will be back into its right relationship – and they won’t really be thinking that they could lose down the road, as they have convinced themselves they didn’t lose in 1994, 2000, 2002 and 2004 but were, instead, the victims of a GOP dirty trick to which they are now wise. Arrogance and hubris are a toxic mix, and it will be slopping over the Democratic party as they come into power in January. The question will be how long before they start ripping each other to shreds, entirely uninterested in whatever it is we’re doing because, well, we’re the minority party and now all that talk of respecting the minority in politics is tossed aside.
Look for leaks, slander campaigns and an MSM which will be torn to pieces as each section of it is commandeered by an element of the Democratic party and is set athwart all other Democrats and parts of the MSM not on side.
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