Nancy Pelosi Touts Election Results
In a letter emailed to Democratic Members, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi touted the Democratic gains in the House as a “success,” continuing her campaign to put a positive face on election results that left her party short of the majority.
Some Democrats consider the email additional evidence that the California Democrat is likely to stay, although information about her thinking is scant.
“If she’s spinning the election results, she’s probably going to come back,” a Democratic aide said.
Also earlier today, Democratic leaders announced a Caucus meeting for 9 a.m. Wednesday.
Pelosi wrote that “House Democrats outperformed expectations” compared with “historical trends and recent predictions” and praised Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee Chairman Steve Israel (N.Y.) for his “outstanding leadership.”
She also touted the diversity of newly elected Democrats.
“Next week we will be welcoming a very large Democratic freshman class. The Democratic Caucus will bring to the 113th Congress the first Caucus where the majority is women and minorities. Our new Caucus will celebrate the great diversity and strength of our nation,” Pelosi said.
“Our larger, more diverse Caucus will play a greater role in support of President Obama and our colleagues in the Senate. We pledge to work alongside the President and stand ready to work across the aisle to move our nation forward and address the American people’s top priorities: creating jobs, growing the economy, strengthening the middle class and protecting Medicare.”
The subject of the email was “Thank you,” and Pelosi ended the letter offering gratitude “for your tremendous support and friendship.”
Privately, Democrats are far from unanimous in viewing election night as a success, with some aides expressing disdain for memoranda emanating from the DCCC that extols how well the party did. One such memo sent today is a copy of a story by the Cook Political Report that breaks down how the party “beat the point spread.” Still, Israel and Pelosi appear to have escaped any named public criticism from Democrats so far.