The Patriot Post® · Pelosi Will Take the Speaker's Gavel Again, to Trump's Delight

To the surprise of exactly no one, Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) won her party’s nomination for speaker of the House Wednesday. Pending a vote, this will be Pelosi’s second stint as House speaker. Recall the last time she was in this position, Americans got saddled with ObamaCare and tax hikes.

Pelosi secured her party’s nomination with a vote of 203-32. So what happened to all those Democrats who had loudly declared their opposition to her leadership? Well, they were essentially given Pelosi’s blessing to register a “no” vote for the sake of their constituents back home, but when the rubber meets the road Pelosi always makes clear there is no room for party disloyalty. She declared, “Our diversity is our strength, but our unity is our power.” In other words, fall in. Pelosi is an old pro at using both the carrot and the stick to ensure party unity.

Secondly, in the same vein as we wrote immediately after the midterm elections, Pelosi as speaker is exactly what President Donald Trump needs — a foil. Trump thrives off of combatively crossing an opponent. By having the well-known and gaffe-prone Pelosi as his leading opponent, Trump is automatically given a united Republican and conservative front aligned against her. Republicans’ dislike of Pelosi maybe be only slightly less than their aversion to Hillary Clinton, and Trump is certain to exploit those feelings. And Trump clearly relishes the thought, writing a couple weeks ago, “In all fairness, Nancy Pelosi deserves to be chosen Speaker of the House by the Democrats. If they give her a hard time, perhaps we will add some Republican votes. She has earned this great honor!”