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Progressives’ Lobbying Campaign Gets Little Notice From Nancy Pelosi

(Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call File Photo)
(Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call File Photo)

Whether House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi wants to acknowledge it, progressives like Pelosi. They really like her.

Last week, the powerful California lawmaker announced that she was going to stay put atop the House Democratic pyramid for a lot of different reasons. She wanted to get more women in Congress, she said, and overhaul the role of money in politics.

But a desperate, last-minute bid progressives launched to get her to stay was definitely not on her radar screen. In fact, it was so unimportant to her that she claimed twice to be hearing about it for the first time.

Wednesday morning, heading into the Democratic caucus meeting to make her announcement, Pelosi was asked what she thought of the lobbying campaign, led by Rep. Jan Schakowsky, D-Ill.

“I didn’t even hear about it,” Pelosi said, laughing.

The next day, the campaign was the premise of another question at Pelosi’s weekly press conference. But told about Schakowsky’s efforts, Pelosi coyly asked, “Did they?” as if she were hearing about it for the first time.

So did Pelosi forget about the Schakowsky campaign, or was she pretending not to have heard about it?

“Leader Pelosi has spoken with many members of her Caucus before announcing her decision and appreciates their strong commitment to moving our country forward,” Pelosi spokesman Nadeam Elshami said.

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