On Wednesday, House Democrats opted to cling to the past rather than confront their future, once again choosing Nancy Pelosi as House Minority leader.
Pelosi, who has held her position since 2003, had been challenged by Tim Ryan of Ohio, who argued the Democrats had lost their connection with blue-collar white workers.
Pelosi is just one of the many old guard Democrats unwilling to relinquish the power they have gained over the years; House Minority Whip Steny Hoyer (Md.) and Assistant Democratic Leader James Clyburn (S.C.) are in their seventies, as is Pelosi.
As Erick Erickson pointed out, Democrats may be missing the forest for the trees:
The problem Democrats are going to have is success. That may seem a bit ironic to say, but they are going to fall into the same trap Republicans fell into in 2010. Democrats are going to gain seats in 2018 as the party out of the White House typically does. Instead of viewing their wins that way, Democrats are just going to see it as affirmation that 2016 was a fluke and they will double down on cultural liberal imperialism, further alienating blue collar whites, conservative Hispanics, and a growing number of black voters.
The vote among Democrats was 134-63 to retain Pelosi, meaning she faces a strong tide of sentiment against her within her own party. One House Democrat who wanted to remain anonymous confessed, “There’s a whole lot of anger. I’m astounded that this caucus refuses to acknowledge reality and change.”
Reps. Adam Schiff (Calif.), Gwen Moore (Wis.), Bill Pascrell (N.J.), Katherine Clark (Mass.), Joaquin Castro (Texas) and Debbie Dingell (Mich.) gave nominating speeches for Pelosi; Schiff stated, “Everything we care about [is] at risk. We need the very best to lead us. No one is a better tactician than Nancy Pelosi. No one does it better. No one even comes close.”
“There’s a whole lot of anger. I’m astounded that this caucus refuses to acknowledge reality and change.”
Anonymous House Democrat
Ryan offered his congratulations to Pelosi, but added he won concessions from her, asserting, “I am proud that my bid for Democratic Leader pushed our members to have these tough family discussions about our future and how we win back the majority in 2018. I am also pleased to see that Leader Pelosi will adopt my proposal to expand leadership by creating a position for Freshman members and to bring back the power to the Committees by creating Vice-Chair/Vice- Ranking Member positions.”