“More and more people are on to her,” Robert Knight, a Washington Times columnist, says. “And I think Republicans ought to make her the face of the Democratic Party because she's the face of tyranny."
Knight, a veteran of D.C. politics, offered that political advice at the same time Politico reports Democratic leaders are huddling behind closed doors over polling that shows them trailing Republicans. According to the Politico story, a July poll with generic candidates showed a Democrat trailing six points behind a GOP candidate.
Those figures alarmed several incumbents who represent battleground districts.
“The polling looked pretty dismal to me,” one Democratic lawmaker told Politico.
The poll, which was commissioned by the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, surveyed 1,000 likely voters in battleground districts.
Pelosi was re-elected Speaker of the House in January but she is leading a narrow 222-211 majority after Democrats were shocked by numerous losses in 2020, including in districts where they expected to win.
The liberal Democrat has served in Congress since 1987, Ronald Reagan’s last year as president, and Democrats elected her earlier this year as part of an agreement she would serve only one more term in the powerful Speaker’s post.
The political longevity of Pelosi has drawn the reluctant admiration of Jesse Kelly, a Texas-based radio host. He recently said the Republican Party should learn from Pelosi how to keep playing offense, and never show weakness, like when Pelosi was caught mask-less in a salon in 2020 but blamed the salon owners.
Pelosi has the “personality of a Disney villain,” Kelly said, but she has learned to wield power, and pass legislation to create even more power, while Republicans make nice-sounding speeches but never fight back.
According to Knight, Pelosi finally drew the anger of Republicans when she threatened to arrest lawmakers who didn’t wear a mask on the House floor.
“Nancy Pelosi is out of control,” Knight warns, “and of course the media repeat everything she says and never question anything. And that can bring a certain kind of tyranny.”
