“Maybe it takes a woman to clean house . Because the fact is a woman represents what’s new, because it’s never happened before.”
-Democratic Rep. Nancy Pelosi, who will become speaker of the house in January.
For the first time ever, a woman is second in line for succession to be president of the United States. However frightful this may be to the many Americans who fear estrogen in the White House – which may come about in 2008 – this social triumph is undoubtedly a mark of progress in a country that so often moves backward instead of forward.
After Tuesday’s elections, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) now holds arguably more power in Washington than any other woman in U.S. history. But unfortunately, with power and triumph come responsibility – a word not so often used to describe Pelosi’s party in recent years. In these critical months before the race for the White House gets underway, it will be Pelosi’s job to hold her party accountable for responsible activity in order to successfully mobilize Democrats for the presidency.
Not having controlled either house of Congress for an extended period of time since 1994 puts the Democrats in a rocky position. As the minority party in these years, Democrats have primarily acted as a condemnors, criticizing of the Republican agenda rather than actually working to push legislation. And in their criticism, Democrats have typically only offered “money grows on trees” alternatives to Republican initiatives – effectively losing sight of reality and failing to suggest real solutions to the problems plaguing the government and the country. But now that they have the power to actually get things done in Congress and can no longer sit around as angry spectators, things could get ugly.
Pelosi has already announced that upon assuming her position as speaker, she will push as much legislation as possible that will give heed to the Democratic agenda. In terms of the war in Iraq, she has vowed to fight the “stay the course” strategy – and much of her party has hopes to withdraw as soon as possible. With almost 30 percent of Americans saying we should immediately pull out all troops from Iraq and with Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld’s resignation just hours after the House was called for the Democrats, the end to “stay the course” may be within sight. But just how much the Democrats can do to alter the Republican foreign policy has everything to do with the Democrats’ commitment to responsibility.
To maintain the trust Democrats have acquired from voters, they need to reconcile with Republicans and plan an efficient, economical and civilized method for withdrawing troops. A complete reversal of “the course” could very well throw Washington into a tailspin, thus undoing any progress America has made – and in turn painting the Democrats as the bad guys. Working with, not against, the minority party is a strategy Democrats should adapt, especially since they may find themselves in the minority once again in a couple of years.
If negotiations across parties are successful, the Democrats will have the power to jump from a ship quite clearly heading in the wrong direction in Iraq. The concern the Democrats have driven into the American people about the current administration’s failed strategy in Iraq and the criticism they have given the Republican Party and defense secretary for their actions in the Middle East will just be a bunch of baloney unless they act effectively.
But the interparty negotiations and the course of action Democrats take will require Pelosi’s astute facilitation. Pelosi’s term, however monumental, cannot be marked with selfish exertions of Democratic power. The Wall Street Journal quoted a House Republican yesterday who anticipated the vigor with which Pelosi and Democrats will operate, saying, “Pelosi will drive Democrats so far left that we come storming back in two years.” And indeed, while perhaps only out of excitement from their victories on Tuesday, the way Democrats are speaking right now makes this prediction seem very likely.
In order to maintain her party’s majority in 2008, Pelosi mustn’t allow her party jump the gun and go too far with liberal policies too quickly. She knows that she can bring about a big governmental reform and she knows she can bring new ideas and strategies into Congress to get America out of the political mess it is tied up in. What she might not know, though, is that the key, for either party, to staying on track to win the presidency in 2008 is proceeding responsibility – clearly an objective Republicans have lost sight of in the past couple of years.
Theresa Kennelly is an associate editorial page editor. She can reached at thenelly@umich.edu.