New Poll Spells Trouble for Pelosi, 73% of Americans Don't Want Her as Speaker
Former House Speaker and current House Democrat Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, along with many others in her party and the liberal media, are convinced that they will win back control of the House in the 2018 midterms and she will resume her former position as speaker.
In fact, Pelosi told The Boston Globe during an interview in May, “We will win. I will run for speaker. I feel confident about it. And my members do, too.”
But Pelosi may have spoken too soon, at least in regard to her confidence in how “her” members feel about her resuming the speakership in the event Democrats reclaim control of the House, as a recent poll suggests otherwise.
According to The Hill, citing a poll from American Barometer and HarrisX, only 51 percent of Democrats think Pelosi should remain as the party’s leader in the House, much less become Speaker again, with 49 percent suggesting the party find a new leader to replace her.
Overall, that poll showed that Pelosi’s bid to be speaker again only has the support of 27 percent of all voters, with 73 percent opposed to her reclaiming the gavel.
Among independent voters, 79 percent think Pelosi should be replaced as a leader, and ironically — given how much she has inadvertently helped Republicans — a full 91 percent of GOP voters think the Democrats should pick a new leader.
In that vein, Republican pollster Joe Hobart told The Hill’s Joe Concha, “I’m certainly on the keep Pelosi bandwagon,” though he admitted that his party may have relied too heavily on the use of Pelosi attack ads and that those ads could eventually lose their effectiveness, much like how Democrats running against the memory of former President George W. Bush failed to stop a Republican wave in 2010.
Dritan Nesho, CEO of HarrisX, explained of the poll, “Democrats are split on whether to keep Nancy Pelosi as leader and independents and most voter groups want someone else to step up. The findings suggest a yearning for change.”
But a spokesman for the House Minority Leader, Drew Hammill, dismissed the poll results as “designed to generate a negative result for Leader Pelosi.”
If Pelosi doesn’t want to believe the results of that poll, perhaps she could consult with NBC News, which compiled a shockingly long list of Democrat House candidates, nominees and even incumbents who’ve publicly stated — with sources cited — that they won’t support Pelosi remaining as leader, as well as a lengthy list of others who’ve taken no position on her leadership one way or the other.
Indeed, 42 Democrats who’ve already received their party’s nomination in their respective districts, along with two candidates still vying for a nomination, as well as nine incumbents already in the House, have expressed their opposition to Pelosi’s continued leadership.
Furthermore, seven Democrat candidates and 34 more nominees have staked out a neutral position neither for or against Pelosi.
As if that didn’t make things clear enough for Pelosi, her own hometown newspaper — The San Francisco Chronicle — published an article Thursday which lamented how Republicans have again made Pelosi a central star of their campaign ads in this election cycle, and worried that the party leader could actually be hurting their chances in November, particularly in closely-fought swing districts.
That has created a “conundrum” for many Democrats who rely on Pelosi’s incredible fundraising skills but fear being tied too closely to her in consideration of her rather low popularity across the board.
“When Nancy Pelosi becomes a central part of the discussion in any race, that is something we’re winning on because we’re not just talking about her, we’re talking about her policies,” explained Jesse Hunt, spokesman for the Republican National Congressional Committee, to The Chronicle of the Pelosi-centric attack ads.
It remains to be seen if Pelosi will bow to the obvious will of the people and step down from her role as party leader, or if the young rising stars of the party will be compelled to force her out, but it is crystal clear that a vast majority of the American people are ready for her to be gone.
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