Pelosi Elected House Minority Leader
URL:http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A54403-2002Nov14.html
By Jim Abrams
Associated Press Writer
Thursday, November 14, 2002; 1:27 PM
WASHINGTON –– House Democrats on Thursday made Rep. Nancy Pelosi the first woman ever to head a political party's caucus in Congress.
In choosing Pelosi on a 177-29 vote, Democrats tasked the veteran California congresswoman with reviving a party stunned by election setbacks and facing a political landscape in which the White House and both houses of Congress are controlled by Republicans.
Democrats settled on the 62-year-old liberal to succeed Dick Gephardt of Missouri, who ended his eight years as party leader after an election where Republicans cemented their control over the House and won back the majority in the Senate.
Twenty-nine Democrats voted for Rep. Harold Ford of Tennessee, who had decided last Friday to challenge Pelosi for the job. Rep. Marcy Kaptur, an Ohio Democrat who got into the race only this week, pulled out before the vote.
Pelosi, appearing before reporters after the vote, paid tribute to Gephardt, saying he has "set a very high standard for us in working on behalf of the American people."
"I am confident that with her leadership, we're going to win back the House in 2004," Gephardt replied.
Pelosi said she didn't run as a woman candidate, but "we've been waiting a long time for this moment."
Pelosi's selection came a day after Republicans picked a solidly conservative leadership team, with Sen. Trent Lott and House Speaker Dennis Hastert remaining at the helm, intent on advancing President Bush's agenda of lower taxes and increased attention to national security.
Pelosi, who for 15 years has represented a strongly liberal district in San Francisco, has led opposition to the administration on such issues as Iraq, trade with China and the structure of the new Homeland Security Department. But she has also promised to reach out to more moderate and conservative members of her own party who say Democrats must not lose touch with the centrist voters who are determining the outcomes of elections.
As Democratic leader, Pelosi is certain to be at odds with the hard-driving conservative Tom DeLay, the current Republican whip and newly elected majority leader, succeeding fellow Texan Dick Armey, who is retiring.
Currently, both DeLay and Pelosi are their party's whips, responsible for counting votes and keeping members in line on key votes.
DeLay said he would "work hard to bring Republicans and willing Democrats together," but also said Republicans would "hit the ground running" in moving GOP initiatives he said had been blocked this year by the Democratic-controlled Senate.
Pelosi too said Democrats will try to find common ground with Republicans, but on issues where they differ, "we must stand our ground."
Kaptur had argued that the party needed to abandon its reliance on big money campaign spending and get back to grassroots organizing, and Ford said he was better equipped to lead the party back toward the political center.
Ford would have been the first black to head a political caucus on Capitol Hill.
The first House Democratic vote of the day was the most difficult, with Rep. Robert Menendez of New Jersey, a leader of the Hispanic caucus, narrowly edging out Connecticut's Rosa DeLauro, a liberal activist and deputy to Gephardt, for the party's no. 3 position, caucus chairman. Democratic aides said the margin was one vote
The House Democratic elections wrap up votes by both parties on their leadership teams for the 108th Congress to begin in January. Senate Democrats on Wednesday re-elected Tom Daschle as their leader.
With Senate Republicans securing at least 51 seats in the election, Lott, R-Miss., will once again become majority leader, regaining the post he ceded to Daschle, D-S.D., when Democrats became the majority party 18 months ago. His chief deputy will be Sen. Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, a fierce opponent of efforts to limit campaign spending.
Hastert, R-Ill. will continue as House speaker, the post he has held since Newt Gingrich stepped down in 1998.
© 2002 The Associated Press |
