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Skriven 2006-10-20 18:36:00 av Jeff Binkley (1:226/600)
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http://www.washingtontimes.com/national/20061019-115634-1828r.htm

Pelosi no shoo-in for job as speaker
By Charles Hurt
THE WASHINGTON TIMES
October 20, 2006 


Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi's prospects for becoming the nation's first 
female House speaker depend not only on a Democratic victory in November 
but also on her ability to prevent any Democrats from voting against her 
-- primarily centrists opposed to her liberal stances. 
    At least one Democratic House candidate has pledged not to support 
Mrs. Pelosi, and others in conservative districts have refused to commit 
their support -- potentially leaving Mrs. Pelosi shy of the 218 votes 
required for the chamber's top post. 
    Democrat Charlie Stuart, who hopes to unseat Republican Rep. Ric 
Keller in Florida, already has said he opposes Mrs. Pelosi and would 
prefer Rep. Steny H. Hoyer, the more conservative No. 2 Democrat in the 
House whose strained relations with Mrs. Pelosi have been well-
chronicled on Capitol Hill. 
    "He's a centrist," Stuart spokeswoman Sultana Ali said of the 
Florida Democrat. "His values really are more in line with Steny Hoyer 
than Nancy Pelosi." 
    At least three other Democrats contacted by The Washington Times 
refused to commit their support to Mrs. Pelosi, whose San Francisco 
district is far more liberal than the districts that are up for grabs in 
this election. 
    Ordinarily, a party's leadership structure is set by the caucus in 
advance, and all members are expected go along with the decision. In the 
eight years Rep. J. Dennis Hastert, Illinois Republican, has been 
speaker, he's never had a protest vote cast against him. 
    Mrs. Pelosi, whose voting record is considerably more liberal than 
many of her fellow Democrats, has never enjoyed that luxury. In last 
year's election for speaker, one Democrat opposed her for the top post. 
Four Democrats opposed her in 2003, with three of them simply voting 
"present" as a protest. 
    Such protest votes are a sign of dissension within a party. But in 
the upcoming Congress -- where Democrats could hold the majority by just 
one or two seats -- any members who vote for someone other than Mrs. 
Pelosi or simply decide not to vote could trigger parliamentary mayhem. 
    If Mrs. Pelosi were to fail to win, the speakership would go to the 
highest vote-getter, most likely Mr. Hastert. Democrats would later win 
it back by settling on a leader after an intraparty showdown that could 
pit Mrs. Pelosi against Mr. Hoyer. 
    But many insiders say Mrs. Pelosi has already moved to protect 
herself from Mr. Hoyer by privately encouraging another conservative 
Democrat -- Rep. John P. Murtha of Pennsylvania -- to announce earlier 
this year he will run for the party's No. 2 position if Democrats gain 
control of the chamber. Mr. Murtha, who is conservative on many issues 
but has lately become a hero of the left for demanding that troops be 
withdrawn from Iraq, is considered a formidable challenger. 
    One of those who opposed Mrs. Pelosi in 2003 was former Rep. Ken 
Lucas, Kentucky Democrat, who retired the following year. Now he is 
trying to regain his seat from the Republican who replaced him, and 
Democrats list the race as among one of their most promising chances to 
pick up a seat in November. 
    The Lucas campaign did not return several phone messages inquiring 
whether he would support Mrs. Pelosi for speaker. 


Rep. Gene Taylor, a conservative Democrat from Mississippi, refused to 
support Mrs. Pelosi in both past leadership elections. Each time, he has 
cast his protest vote for Mr. Murtha. 
    Next year, however, Mr. Taylor said he would support Mrs. Pelosi, at 
least if his was the deciding vote. 
    "If it comes down to Hastert or Pelosi, then I'm certainly not going 
to vote for Hastert," he said. "I'm not going to vote against my own 
self-interest." 
    Mr. Taylor said that voters in his district -- which went 66 percent 
for President Bush in 2000 -- don't have much in common with Mrs. 
Pelosi, who visited recently to survey the damage left by Hurricane 
Katrina. 
    "People were very nice to her," Mr. Taylor said. 
    Heath Shuler, the former Washington Redskins quarterback who is 
challenging Rep. Charles H. Taylor in North Carolina, is another 
Democrat running in a conservative district who refuses to say whether 
he would support Mrs. Pelosi for speaker. 
    "He will support whoever he thinks will best represent this 
district," Shuler spokesman Andrew Whalen said. 
    Mr. Taylor's campaign -- like vulnerable Republican campaigns in 
conservative districts across the country -- has gone to some effort to 
smear the Democratic candidate by association to Mrs. Pelosi. 
    Pelosi spokeswoman Jennifer Crider said it's a campaign that won't 
work. 
    "Republicans are without a single winning issue, so it's no wonder 
they are desperately trying to falsely smear a churchgoing grandmother 
who has made fiscal responsibility, bipartisanship and middle-class tax 
cuts a priority," she said. 
    In some races, such as Democrat Brad Ellsworth's effort to unseat 
Republican Rep. John Hostettler in Indiana, the charge has become so 
heavy that the Democrat ran a television commercial pleading with voters 
that the election "isn't about Nancy Pelosi." Mr. Ellsworth also refuses 
to say he will support Mrs. Pelosi for speaker. 
    Said Gene Taylor of Mississippi: "I still wish Jack Murtha would run 
for speaker. He's pro-gun, pro-life, a real conservative." 

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