Nancy Pelosi is failing her party

[BeyondGeography]

LAST FALL, WHEN Speaker Nancy Pelosi led Democrats back to a majority in the House of Representatives she was showered with praise for her political acumen.

But less than a year later, Democrats are increasingly seeing the downside of having their most powerful elected official more focused on protecting moderate House members than looking out for the broader health of the party — and the country.

...The speaker is seemingly doing everything she can to avoid getting in public fights with the Trump administration — even as she finds time to pick needless battles with prominent liberal members of her Democratic caucus.

...As the most prominent elected Democrat in the country, Pelosi alone has the power to challenge Trump and the GOP by ramping up investigations and even impeaching the president. Yes, House committee chairmen are regularly sending out new subpoenas — subpoenas which the White House consistently ignores. But there is an unmistakable sluggishness surrounding the House’s investigations.

Pelosi has the power to go after Trump and his administration aggressively — a move that could pay political dividends by raising the partisan temperature in Washington a year-and-a-half before a presidential election that could turn on Democrats’ ability to mobilize their core voters. Pelosi seemingly has smaller fish to fry. She has shown herself to be a creature of the House of Representatives, stubbornly refusing to act like a national Democrat and broaden her gaze beyond the three dozen or so moderate-leaning House districts that are essential to her remaining speaker.

More at https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.bostonglobe.com/opinion/2019/07/12/nancy-pelosi-failing-her-party/Sk7pzo653rXaDveUB2DELJ/story.html%3foutputType=amp