OPINION: This article may contain commentary which reflects the author's opinion.
As rumors swirl about House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s future, a new report reveals that Democrats may be working on her potential replacement.
California Democrat Rep. Adam Schiff is positioning himself to be Pelosi’s replacement if she retires or takes a step back after November. Given Republicans are likely to win back the House, many wonder if Pelosi will stay in the minority or retire.
The Washington Post reports that Schiff’s efforts have “focused on consolidating support among his home base” in California, but that he “has not made an explicit ask for endorsements.”
Instead, the Post says Schiff “is gauging members’ interest and planting the seed that leading the caucus is his goal.”
The outlet adds that Schiff has reached out to progressive and minority-led congressional groups but that the response to some of that outreach has been “tepid.”
Other Democrats reportedly gunning to lead the House Democratic Caucus if Pelosi steps back include Democrat Reps. Steny Hoyer, James Clyburn, and Hakeem Jeffries.
These rumors have become so loud that apparently Democrats already have several successors in mind to potentially replace Pelosi.
“I think we want leadership that bridges some of the different ideological wings of the party, that is committed to listening to all of the perspectives, that will be capable of helping move the Senate or things that have stalled in the House. But whoever it is, I hope they would adopt progressive positions and also listen to the broad caucus and build consensus,” California Democrat Rep. Ro Khanna told the Post.
“I think there was a ‘holding of power’ model that worked very well for a long time, and I think now it is more about a recognition of different centers of focus within the Democratic caucus that have to be brought in and brought together. It takes some acceptance of more-decentralized leadership,” Washington Democrat Rep. Pramila Jayapal said.
Republicans are “the clear favorites” to retake control of the House and perhaps even the Senate in November’s midterm elections.
In fact, Democrats continue to move so far to the Left that a new report reveals that many are switching parties and joining the GOP.
“Sure, Dems, they are relatively small numbers, but the trend is inexorable. If it’s a mass switching to muck around in GOP primaries, kudos for your discipline. But I don’t think so,” The Nevada Independent reported.
“Combine this trend with the Repubs doubling the Dems in voter registration in May, which never happens, and the Dem statewide lead about to drop below 3 percent (this is unprecedented since…the Reagan Era?), and all of the signs are red wavy,” the report added.
“The numbers continue to only be in the hundreds, but they are adding up in party switching — three times as many Dems switching to GOP as Repubs going to Dem again in March, via the SOS. Maybe some Dems just want to vote in the two major contested GOP primaries in June — maybe — but this is consistent for months now,” the report stated.
More importantly, this has been a growing trend for many months.
“All major party branding problems are equal, but some are more equal than others. More than two and a half times as many Democrats have switched their voter registrations to Republicans as vice-versa during the last three months, a statistic with ominous portents for Democratic candidates,” the report found.
“The numbers since September also show that one and a half times as many Democrats switched to nonpartisan as did Republicans – numbers also reflected in how many major party voters would rather be members of “The Jedi Party” or some other minor or essentially nonexistent party,” it added.
