Nancy Pelosi has emerged as a beacon for the Democrats in a turbulent time in the history of the United States. The Speaker of the House of Representatives, uncomfortable for Republicans seeking to take control of Congress, has been able to defend democracy in the face of a sharply divided Capitol.
The one who is for many a ‘rara avis’ of American politics agreed in 2018 to lead the Democrats in the lower house of Congress for the second and last time, especially if the Republicans take control of the hemicycle in the ‘midterm’ this Tuesday, the well-known midterm elections that serve as a consultation on the level of approval of the president of the country.
Pelosi, 82, represents the old Democratic guard, politicians in danger of extinction who have their sights set on making way for new generations to clean up and renew the party’s leadership to adapt to the new challenges of U.S. domestic politics.
Although the Democrats maintain certain expectations for the elections, most of the congressmen of the party point to an increase in the pressure on Pelosi – who was also leader of the Democratic minority on two occasions – to finally leave office regardless of the results.
Sources within the party already indicated at the beginning of September that the race to succeed her had already begun: the meeting between Jim Clyburn, in charge of party discipline, and the congressman for the state of South Carolina, Hakeem Jeffries, would have served as a detonator.
Although the party’s top officials have treated the matter discreetly in an attempt to show respect for Pelosi herself, the commotion has been spreading as some members of Congress have expressed behind closed doors their desire to replace her.
In this sense, it is Jeffries himself who figures as the main favorite to pick up the baton before a legacy that dates back to 2003, when Pelosi went on to lead the Democrats in the House of Representatives and became the first woman to lead a party in Congress.
However, the name of the woman with the most institutional political power in the country’s history has taken on a new relevance during the last few years, especially under the Administration of now former President Donald Trump. Since then, she has become a sort of guru for American politics, a role that has also earned her numerous critics and enemies from the right.
IMPEACHMENT AND CAPITOL ASSAULT Last January 6, 2021, when a mob of Trump supporters stormed the U.S. Congress, Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer tried to stop the assault from within. During nearly four hours of mounting tension, both warned of the danger the situation posed to staff and officials inside the building, while targeting the outgoing president as the main «instigator.»
Pelosi herself later pushed for the opening of a parliamentary investigation to clarify what happened that day, when Trump himself advocated blocking the ratification of the presidential votes that gave the victory to Joe Biden.
Before the midterm elections, which will renew the entire lower house of Congress and a third of the seats in the Senate, the commission advocates making Trump testify under oath after being accused of «conspiring» to reverse the election results.
It was Pelosi herself who threatened a second ‘impeachment’ after the assault two years after the chamber activated the same process against the billionaire for his pressure on Ukraine to investigate Biden’s son, Hunter.
According to investigators, Trump wanted Ukrainian authorities to investigate the former Democratic pre-candidate and his son for alleged corruption in their business dealings in Ukraine.
However, after the assault on the Capitol, it was Pelosi herself who again called for the opening of impeachment proceedings if the then Vice President, Mike Pence, did not invoke the Twenty-fifth Amendment to remove him from the White House.
VISIT TO TAIWAN Pelosi’s activities again stirred controversy in September over her visit to Taiwan with a delegation of senior U.S. officials, an issue that drew sharp criticism from the Chinese government.
The Democratic politician has defended the trip tooth and nail and has accused the president of the Asian giant, Xi Jinping, of acting like a «frightened bully» in what seems to have been her last official act as leader of the U.S. House of Representatives.
Thus, he once again adopted a forceful political stance alluding to the defense of «democratic values» and accused China of trying to «isolate» Taiwan in a region of growing geostrategic relevance for the United States.
In what was the first visit in 25 years by a Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives to the island, Pelosi took the opportunity to assure Taiwanese authorities that Washington «will not abandon you» despite China’s increased military deployment in the vicinity.
ATTACK AT HIS HOME Experts in the United States have warned of the possibility of a new outbreak of political violence in the run-up to the legislative elections in view of the clear polarization the country is suffering and which has recently resulted in the attack suffered by Paul Pelosi, the husband of the Democratic Speaker of the House of Representatives, at his home at the hands of an assailant.
Pelosi had to be hospitalized after a man hit him over the head with a hammer in an attack that was actually aimed at his wife, whom he wanted to «break her knees,» as the attacker stated.
This assault is a paradigm and symbol of the threat posed to the country by the violence exercised, especially by members of the extreme right in the run-up to the elections.
For these experts, there is a cultural and ideological war fueled by the «growing threat of Christian nationalism», an identity that «welcomes conspiracists, apocalyptics and members of armed militias» united by the specter of a second civil war in the country.
The attack has also put the spotlight back on the Capitol Police, whose morale had already been shaken last year in the wake of the assault on Congress. Congressmen are now considering the possibility of increasing the funds allocated to this police force to reinforce the defense of members of the House of Representatives and other politicians of special relevance.
As the Democrats now prepare for a possible defeat in the midterm elections, the Biden Administration will have to face a nation more polarized than ever in the face of the presumed absence of Pelosi, who will leave behind a political earthquake in California after 35 years in her seat.
