Did Pelosi Call for Bipartisanship?

[ProudLib72]

Last edited Thu Nov 8, 2018, 12:03 PM - Edit history (1)

Maybe I'm totally mistaken, but that's what I got from listening to her speech today. So I'm wondering if this might have been more of her offering a way out for anti-Rump Rs than an olive branch. And if it is a way out, does that say something about the current House R's feelings about Rump? Maybe it's just a ploy for Dems to lay low until the transfer of power?

Hmmmmm

Edit: Just to be clear, I'm not knocking Pelosi at all. I'm simply wondering about the dynamics in the House that we are not aware of.

[vlyons]

1. She's asking for bi-partisanship where there is some common ground

which is reasonable. But given that there's not much common ground with ReThugs, there won't be much, if any, bi-partisanship. The GOP is now a party of corporate fat-cats, racists, neo-Fascists, and degenerate Evangelicals.

[ProudLib72]

4. The part I caught was mostly about healthcare

So maybe you're right. Maybe she carefully chose those couple of issues we could work (somewhat) together on.

[Autumn]

8. How can we works with them on healthcare when the last 8 years their goal has been

to destroy everything Obama did and they have shown time after time they don't care if people live or die?

[ProudLib72]

9. Perhaps that, in itself, was a trick

Since they suddenly switched sides about two months ago for the sole purpose of winning elections. Pelosi is going to hold them to their promises? Promises made, promises kept!

[Autumn]

10. When have they ever held their promises? Their voters don't even hold them to

their promises and are too stupid to care. A promise to Pelosi is nothing more than meaningless words.

[Blue_true]

21. Healthcare bloodied them in the House midterms.

Plus, THREE deep red states voted to expand Medicaid to allow more ACA sign ups. I think that republicans finally see the lights of the speeding train that is headed at their asses. If they don't get some good healthcare talking points, 2020 is going to be brutal for them.

[ProudLib72]

22. It's really funny to me how one of the points they won 2016 on was ACA

And, in trying to dismantle it, they exposed how vital affordable healthcare really is. Talk about not paying attention to constituents! They didn't get it until it was way too late for the mid-terms, and then they sounded so false! They were easy pickings.

[Blue_true]

25. People can be clueless.

Republicans used lies about grossly high premiums in 2016, although premiums on average had dropped every year of the ACA. They won then tried to eliminate the ACA, that was when real premium increases hit people in the ass. So, in 2018, people were smarter, they saw the real picture, and in the House, which reflects true populations better, republicans paid a price.

[manor321]

2. It is just political language

Ignore it. Senator Harry Reid did this all the time while in reality shoving the knife into the GOP.

[regnaD kciN]

7. Not unlike when Trump, two years ago...

...promised to be a president “for all the people,” not just his supporters. It’s standard post-election bullshit that will be forgotten whenever necessary.

[0rganism]

3. i think it's more of a generic Democratic greeting, like "hi how are you?" or "how's things going?"

repeating this with regularity allows Democrats to claim, without irony, that we are "able to work across the aisle to get things done" and such during election campaigns where the Republican opponent's main campaign techniques include plastering the Democrat's image into a scope sight overlay and publicly cleaning his guns in TV ads.

[ProudLib72]

6. You may be right

After two years, I'm over analyzing these speeches, looking for any agenda that will give me some hope.

[Autumn]

5. I think it was her way of being the adult in the room. She knows that there is no way they

will ever work with Dems on anything. It's their way or the highway. She has to know that, if she thinks otherwise it means it we are fucked. Nancy is pretty smart, she saw what happened the last time the Dems moved on. That came back to bite the party in the ass.

[marylandblue]

11. Trump has no policy beliefs or interest, therefore he is malleable

There are a host of Democratic priorities that he might be in favor of, but Republicans haven't allowed it. One is DACA. He actually agreed to it before the GOP shut it down.
Now they can cut a deal with him ( he loves deals, remember?), pass it through the House, and the Senate will have to go along or be the road block.

[ProudLib72]

12. I remember the DACA deal

I would love to see that go through!

[alarimer]

13. She should know better

Republicans do not operate in good faith.

[ProudLib72]

14. Well, I got this weird feeling listening to her speech

She wasn't exactly calling for reconciliation. It was more like, "We are ready to work to pass some decent legislation. If you Rs want to cooperate, you will have the opportunity." In other words, it sounded like she was putting the onus for cooperation on them. It was as if she was calling them out for being the roadblock. Of course, it all had to do with her phrasing. It wasn't in the more direct terms the Rump would have used.

[0rganism]

15. i'm fairly sure she knows better than most

saying such things is a required formality for Democrats whenever we win power in an election.

remember in 2008 when Democrats held congress solid and won the presidency too? good times, right? but the news media was incessant in its demands that Democrats "reach out to Republicans". i saw Doris Stearns-Goodwin on several times to discuss her book about Lincoln's divided cabinet. how many times has this happened to Republicans since 2016? not so much, but this is standard procedure for Democrats, and by saying she'll do "bipartisanship" Rep. Pelosi has temporarily defanged the news media so they can return to their normal routine of being Trump's punching bag clowns.

she knows damn well if she hadn't said this, the cable news shows would be blanketed with finger-waggers talking about how gracious Tip O'Neill was with Reagan and so on.

[Me.]

20. THIS!

[pnwmom]

16. I think she's speaking to hundreds of millions of Americans.

And her message is: The Democrats are the reasonable party, the Trumpers are nuts.

[McCamy Taylor]

17. Sure she did. It is part of the official Watergate 2 play book.

Offer your hand, so your mobster opponent can pipe bomb it. And you can seize the high moral ground.

[Joe941]

18. I could see a infrastructure deal possibly.

[Me.]

19. Of Course She Did

It's the way you start out, handshakes, smiles and bipartisanship...then when rubber meets road, iron hand enters velvet glove. Is she starts out screaming she has no where to go. And, should she wring concessions out of him that no one else can, good for her. I truly wish people would stop jumping on everything she says and panicking about where she stands. Has there ever been any doubt? Did anyone else manage to get the ACA through, which the Cons still can't get rid of.

[ProudLib72]

23. So the old adage "You get more flies with sugar than shit"?

She's attracting all the Rs away from the WH.

BTW: My OP was in no way meant to be a criticism of her! I was intrigued by the possibility of prying Rs away from the Rump train, which could only be a good thing.

[Me.]

24. I Think IT's More

'wait until you see the whites of their eyes"...they will never see her coming.

[KPN]

26. I think she's just saying, if Trump will give us what we want, we will try to make a deal with him.

Please keep in mind the "what we want" part. She's way too savvy to give up the farm for a few crumbs. That ain't gonna happen.

What I heard yesterday was:

(1) Trump ingratiating himself on Pelosi because he's scared and also knows he can't keep ANY more of his promises to his base without D support. Are there any of his campaign promises that we are actually okay with?

(2) Pelosi sounding like an intelligent human being as opposed to -- in Trump's media session case -- a fraudulent, bullshiting joke.

[ProudLib72]

28. Yes, there was that weirdness from Rump yesterday too

Radio pundits kept guessing whether he was genuine or mocking in his congratulations. But I think you are right; he was ingratiating himself with her because he knows he's in trouble.

[KPN]

29. It's what bullies do first when they can no longer bull.

Followed up by whining, crying and showing true cowardice when they actually begin to lose. How will Trump show his cowardice? Throw others under the bus? Start a war? Tighten your seatbelts. We're in for a ride.

[UniteFightBack]

27. It was just for show, every Democrat and even Republicons knows you can't really make deals with

rump. His word ain't his bond.