"More than almost anyone else in Washington, Nancy Pelosi earned the right to consider herself indispensable. As speaker of the House - the first woman to hold that title - she was masterful at holding a fractious and heterogenous Democratic coalition together. Without her, we probably wouldn't have the Affordable Care Act. She regularly showed excellent judgment, including on the Iraq War, which she was one of few leading Democrats to vote against."
"Yet Pelosi was correct to step aside from her leadership role in 2022 to make way for a new generation, even if Hakeem Jeffries, her successor, hasn't been nearly as impressive as she was. And she's right to retire now, setting an example for a party with a serious gerontocracy problem. The most obvious example of that problem, of course, was Joe Biden's catastrophic decision to run for reelection at the age of 81. But the trouble goes far deeper."
Nancy Pelosi served as a powerful and unifying Democratic leader and the first female House speaker. She managed a fractious coalition and helped secure passage of the Affordable Care Act. She demonstrated judgment by opposing the Iraq War and by provoking Donald Trump into damaging outbursts. Pelosi stepped down from House leadership in 2022 to make way for a new generation and is retiring now. The Democratic Party faces an aging leadership, with more than 50 House Democrats aged 70 or older compared with just over 30 Republicans. Three Democratic members have died in office this year, and Eleanor Holmes Norton, age 88, has sometimes struggled to perform her duties.
Read at The Mercury News
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