Decoding Pelosi

 

by Pa Rock

Citizen Journalist

Nancy Pelosi may no longer wield the Speaker's gavel, but that does not mean that she has abdicated any of her powers to control the ambitions of fellow Democrats who wish to operate in her chamber or in Washington, DC's political milieu.  Her tenacity was on full display this week as the former Speaker of the House, a Baltimorean by birth and a San Franciscan by choice, sought to insert herself into the upcoming California US Senate race at the expense of a California House member who has served both Speaker Pelosi as well as the residents of the member's district well and faithfully for the past six years.

The upcoming Senate race in California in 2024 is already promising to become quite dicey.  Two current and very well known members of the California Democratic House delegation have announced their intent to run to replace the nation's most senior US Senator, Dianne Feinstein - a situation which is complicated by the fact that Feinstein seems to have forgotten to announce that she is not running for re-election.  A third Democratic House member from California has also signaled her intent to get into the race.

Here is a rundown of the race so far:  The current senior United States Senator (and the current sitting senior senator in the entire US Senate) is Dianne Feinstein who was born early in FDR's first term in office and will be ninety in June.  Fienstein (or at least members of her staff, have been fighting reports in the press indicating that she is rapidly losing her mental acuity, and it is widely believed that she will not run for re-election to another six-year term next year.

Democratic congresswoman Katie Porter, who serves in a politically volatile district in California - and who is known for schooling Republicans and business leaders with her infamous little white board, became the first Democrat to announce that she is running for that particular Senate seat less than a month ago on January 10th.  Porter is a single mother of three who turned forty-nine last month.

Democratic congressman Adam Schiff was the second political horse to enter the California US Senate race.  Schiff, like Porter, is from the progressive side of the Democratic Party.  He will be sixty-three in June.

Another progressive Democratic House member from California is also busy pre-announcing that she, too, will run for Feinstein's Senate seat.  Rep. Barbara Lee, who is seventy-six and serving her 12th term in Congress, seems eager to join the political fray.

Meanwhile former House Speaker Pelosi, who will be eighty-three next month, is seeking to influence the election.  The past week she announced her support for Adam Schiff to replace Feinstein in the Senate - if, and only if, Feinstein chooses not to run for re-election.   

I did not send in my three dollars for the Nancy Pelosi decoder ring, but I think that I have managed to decode her anyway.  Those who wish to advance in politics from a perch in the House had best genuflect to the queen, bigly and deeply.  Also, Katie Porter should take her prissy little white board and go take a seat in the bleachers - where she belongs - and if she dallies in her self-deliverance to the cheap seats, Pelosi will take that irksome little white board and stick it . . . And finally, incumbency prevails all costs.  If Feinstein chooses to run for re-election, whether she knows which planet she is campaigning on or not, then she must be supported.

Some dinosaurs still roam the earth.

Pa Rock ia a proud contributor to Katie Porter's campaign for the US Senate.