When you’ve lost Nancy Pelosi, you might as well clear out your desk.
Amid all the chaos and whiplash in US politics over the past few weeks, one law remained constant: Pelosi is uniquely influential and has the power to make or break careers – even those of American presidents.
The former House speaker did more than anyone else to re-engineer the race for the White House, breathing new life into her Democratic party and sending Donald Trump’s Republicans into a tailspin.
Pelosi, 84, publicly encouraged 81-year-old Joe Biden to make a decision about his re-election campaign when he had already insisted he had no plans to step aside. Once he did drop out and endorse Kamala Harris, Pelosi scored another victory when former congressman Tim Walz was named as running mate.
I actually have more respect for Pelosi after this.
She willingly stepped down in 2022. Her first reaction was to refuse to comment, and not exert pressure. She seemed to genuinely want either Joe Biden to come to the conclusion that he can’t run on his own and/or Hakeem Jefferies to lead the charge to have him step down.
It was only after Jefferies proved himself pretty much useless that she inserted herself back into the primary role. She proceeded to prove that, despite everything ,she’s incredibly capable in a way that no other democrat can match.
Regardless of how the election turns out, I think we can all agree that Biden was a massive liability for Democrats. While I have personal issues in regards to the Harris/Walz ticket, most Americans seem infinitely more amicable to it than Biden/Harris. None of that would have been possible without Pelosi.