Trial by fire? Pelosi proves she鈥檚 still in the game
| Yorba Linda, Calif., and Washington
One thing you can say about House Speaker Nancy Pelosi: People have definite views about her. 鈥淪he鈥檚 an obstructionist,鈥� says Julianna, outside a post office here in the city where Richard Nixon was born. 鈥淚 don鈥檛 like her politics,鈥� says Ken Barber. 鈥淚鈥檓 a conservative. She鈥檚 a liberal.鈥�
On the other hand, Jesus Pucan, a Filipino-American, praises Representative Pelosi听for a 鈥渏ob well done,鈥� while Emma Brinkley, a first-time听Californian voter at 18 last year, says she likes the听speaker鈥檚 ability to block President Trump even if she doesn鈥檛 know much about her听as a politician.
Despite these opposing stances, public opinion about the most powerful and vilified听Democrat in the nation is shifting. Her听favorability听ratings are rising on听a swell of support from Democrats who see her as an effective opponent to the president. Even some Republicans express a certain admiration for her political skill.
Why We Wrote This
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi weathered a storm of criticism before the midterms, including from Democrats. Now her experience has paid off in facing down the president, polishing her image nationally and at home.
鈥淚 was wrong. I completely underestimated how powerful and how strong she is,鈥� said Meghan McCain on ABC鈥檚 鈥淭his Week鈥� after the nation鈥檚 longest government shutdown ended last month on the speaker鈥檚 terms. Far-right听commentator Mike Cernovich tweeted: 鈥淣ancy Pelosi is alpha.鈥�
鈥淲e鈥檝e gone from people saying she鈥檚 been around too long, we need fresh blood, to a pretty unanimous verdict, at least among Democrats and analysts, that she鈥檚 a legislative master, a tough negotiator. It鈥檚 a whole different set of images ascribed to her,鈥� says Robert Shrum, who teaches at the University of Southern California and who advised the presidential campaigns of Democrats John Kerry and Al Gore.
, which has been tracking Pelosi听since she became the House Democrats鈥� minority leader in 2003, found that 38 percent of Americans viewed her favorably in early December. That鈥檚 still low, but it鈥檚 up 9 points since June and higher than her historic average. Since the shutdown ended,听other polls put her support among registered voters in the low 40s.
But her home state of California, which is听at the forefront of the resistance movement, is giving her even louder plaudits.听Forty-eight percent of California鈥檚 adults approve of how she is handling her job as speaker, according to taken in the last week of the shutdown.
鈥淭hat鈥檚 a very positive rating, considering what the [low] rating is of Congress right now and the rating of the president鈥� in the Golden State, says the institute鈥檚 president, Mark Baldassare. Two-thirds of Californians blame Mr. Trump and Republicans in Congress for the shutdown. The president has a 30 percent approval rating in California, compared with almost 44 percent nationally, according to the .
From a drag to an asset
It wasn鈥檛 always this way with Pelosi, who was elected the first-ever woman speaker in 2007, then lost the gavel when Republicans gained control in the tea-party wave of 2010.听With Democrats failing听under her leadership听to take back the House in 2012, 2014, and 2016, the grumbling about the septuagenarian was audible.听
Mark DiCamillo, another California pollster, recalls attending various conferences and lunches a couple years ago. 鈥淚 would say, 鈥楴ancy鈥檚 just not that popular, and you could make a case that she鈥檚 a drag on congressional candidates in the country and in California.鈥� 鈥澨�
Indeed, a September 2017 poll by the Institute of Governmental Studies at the University of California, Berkeley, which Mr. DiCamillo directs, showed that larger proportions of Democrats in California wanted to replace Pelosi听as leader, whether or not the Democrats retook the House.
In California and the rest of the country, Republicans ran ads in swing districts听during last year鈥檚 campaign,听pairing Democratic candidates with Pelosi as a threat. In southern California鈥檚 39th听district, a Republican stronghold that includes Nixon鈥檚 birthplace听here听in Orange County, Democratic congressional candidate Gil Cisneros听said that while he 鈥渞espected鈥� all that Pelosi has done, it was 鈥渢ime for new leadership.鈥�
But what a change a year made. On the eve of the election, an unpublished poll by DiCamillo found a huge majority of California Democrats wanted Pelosi as speaker 鈥� nearly 72 percent 鈥� if the party won. Suddenly Democratic voters focused and became pragmatic, DiCamillo says. The GOP鈥檚 warnings about Pelosi proved ineffective. Democrats took back the House, gaining听40 net seats, including seven in GOP strongholds in听California.听
Among the winners was Representative Cisneros. In November he signed a letter saying he would not vote for Pelosi as speaker, later changing his mind once she agreed to serve no longer than four years in that role. Now he talks of her glowingly, telling the Monitor that 鈥渟he鈥檚 leading the party down a great path 鈥� standing up to the president.鈥�
It鈥檚 what voters back home want, he says, of the tough speaker who joked in her memoir that she eats nails for breakfast. 鈥淭hey don鈥檛 want us to give in. They want us to be an inclusive society. To welcome immigrants to our country. The speaker has been a great example of that.鈥�
鈥淲inning changes a lot,鈥� says Rep. Ro Khanna (D) of California, with a grin.
Stand your ground
More than any other factor, it is anti-Trump sentiment that has fed a pro-Pelosi one, says DiCamillo. Opposition to the president drove women such as Ms. Brinkley, who spoke excitedly about taking part in the first women鈥檚 march in Los Angeles, to the polls, as well as Latinos, who showed up in numbers resembling a presidential election.
But that is not to discount Pelosi鈥檚 political skill听in听leading her party to a crushing victory, deftly winning over Democrats, and听then holding her ground that there would be no negotiating with the president on border security without听ending the shutdown first.
When it came time to forge a bipartisan bill to fund the rest of the government through September, Democrats agreed to only $1.37 billion for 55 new miles of border barriers. That鈥檚 far from the $5.7 billion the president wanted. Trump signed听the bill on Friday but declared a听state of emergency on the border so that he could redirect money from other government spending to build a border wall. Pelosi and Senate minority leader Charles Schumer of New York called the move a presidential 鈥減ower grab鈥� that violated Congress鈥檚 exclusive power of the purse and said they would pursue 鈥渆very remedy鈥� to stop it.听
Far from age being seen as a detriment for women in politics 鈥� or other fields, for that matter 鈥� it鈥檚 proving its usefulness.听
Bill Carrick, a longtime Democratic adviser to California Sen. Dianne Feinstein 鈥� just reelected in her mid-80s 鈥� says the age issue for both Senator Feinstein and Pelosi is 鈥渋rrelevant鈥� in the face of their experience.
Pelosi鈥檚 skill set 鈥渋s perfectly attuned with this particular moment in time,鈥� says Mr. Carrick. 鈥淪he鈥檚 got a grasp of the substance of the issues and how to move legislation both substantively and politically, and she鈥檚 just tremendously outflanking Trump at every moment.鈥�
Monitor staff reporter Jessica Mendoza contributed to this story from Washington.
