August 31, 2017 10:19 AM UTC

"No-Drama" Leader Pelosi Looks Ahead To 2018

•  
• by: Colorado Pols

The Denver Post’s Brian Eason reports on yesterday’s visit to Denver by House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi–in which Pelosi backstops Democratic 2018 aspirations in this state, and responds to some dissension in the Democratic ranks after last year’s elections:

U.S. House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi met with Denver Post editors and reporters Wednesday to stump for the Democrats’ economic agenda ahead of a progressive women’s event at the History Colorado Center.

In a wide-ranging discussion, Pelosi spoke about President Donald’s Trump response to Hurricane Harvey, Gov. John Hickenlooper’s health care plans and what she thought of U.S. Rep. Ed Perlmutter’s voting against her for House Democratic leader…

On U.S. Rep. Ed Perlmutter’s changing his mind to run for re-election: “All of the members wanted him to stay,” she said. “He just couldn’t walk into a room when people were not saying ‘Come on.’ … He’s very respected and well liked.”

On Perlmutter’s vote against Pelosi as Democratic leader: “I don’t care.”

On how other Democrats should respond when asked whether they’ll support her for leader: “I just say to people, ‘Just win your election. Don’t worry about me; you just win your election,’ ” she said, acknowledging that Republicans have used her as a issue on the campaign trail.

Overall a good showing by Pelosi yesterday in Denver, where she also addressed topics like the 2018 CD-6 race (bullish on Jason Crow) and condemned any violence committed by left-wing “Antifa” groups–while being careful to differentiate between them and white supremacists, refuting President Donald Trump’s claims that “many sides” are responsible for violence at white supremacist events.

Leader Pelosi echoed the growing hope from Democrats of retaking the U.S. House in 2018. In terms of the dissent among some Democrats that manifested in a few “no” votes against her remaining Minority Leader, including from Colorado’s Rep. Ed Perlmutter, Pelosi gamely shrugged it off. As for GOP attacks, we’ve never really understood the fixation by vulnerable Republicans like Rep. Mike Coffman with Pelosi–other than the most simplistic and dog-whistle-y kinds of attacks, she’s just not that despisable. Sources have told us separately that Pelosi may not even run for Speaker if Democrats retake the House, but ether way the 2018 election is not going to be a referendum on Pelosi.

It’s going to be a referendum on Trump. And it’s looking more and more like a harsh judgment.