Circular firing squad.
It wasn’t a good week for the Democrats. After losing the most promising of several competitive special congressional elections this year in Georgia’s 6th District, party activists formed a circular firing squad and began taking pot shots at one another.
There was infighting between centrist and liberal Democrats, with the latter quoting Bernie Sanders in saying of defeated Georgia 6th nominee Jon Ossoff that not all Democrats are equally progressive. There were debates between whether it made more sense to turn out minorities or win back working-class white voters.
Most surprising, perhaps, was the criticism of House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., after she was the political figure Republicans had the most success turning into a bogeyman in the Georgia race.
“The brand is just bad,” Rep. Tim Ryan, D-Ohio, complained to CNN. “I don’t think people in the beltway are realizing just how toxic the Democratic Party brand is in so many parts of the country.”
Asked if Pelosi was really more toxic than President Trump, Ryan replied, “The honest answer is in some areas of the country — yes, she is. I think that in certain areas, like in some of these special election districts, it doesn’t benefit our candidates to be tied to her.”
Ryan mounted a doomed challenge to Pelosi’s leadership after the 2016 elections and got crushed. But not everyone who sounded this theme was a longtime Pelosi detractor.
“I think you’d have to be an idiot to think we could win the House with Pelosi at the top,” said Rep. Filemon Vela, D-Texas, told Politico. “Nancy Pelosi is not the only reason that Ossoff lost. But she certainly is one of the reasons.”
“Nancy Pelosi was a great speaker,” Rep. Kathleen Rice, D-N.Y., said on MSNBC. “She is a great leader. But her time has come and gone.”
“It’s time for a new generation of leadership in the party,” Rep. Seth Moulton, D-Mass., remarked to CNN’s Jake Tapper.