Move over Reid and Pelosi, it’s time for new leadership
President Barack Obama hosts a meeting of the bipartisan, bicameral leadership of Congress. Clockwise, from foreground are, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell of Ky., Vice President Joe Biden, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi of Calif., Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner, House Speaker John Boehner of Ohio, the president and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nev. (Nov. 16, 2012) Credit: AP
Despite being voted off the island in the recent election, congressional Democrats are set to sail into the future with the same leaders at the helm. That seems like a moment missed.
The party lost its majorities in the Senate and the House on the watches of Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif). The Senate flipped this week, the House in 2010. It’s time for new leadership.
It’s not so much about the job performance of Reid and Pelosi. And its not just because a couple of New York’s own — Sen. Charles Schumer and Rep. Steve Israel — are in the leadership queue and could move up.
As Vice Chairman of the Senate’s Democratic Caucus and chairman of its Democratic Policy Committee, Schumer is the chamber’s third-ranking Democrat. Israel said Wednesday that he won’t stay on as chairman of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee for a third election, but signaled he wants some leadership post. If either advances, it would be good for New York.
But the real problem with the status quo is that Reid and Pelosi have been piñatas for the GOP for a long time, and are now the faces of failure. That can’t be good for Democrats desperately seeking a comeback.
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