The Most Ruthless Political Operator in the Country Is a Woman

[Omaha Steve]

I didn't see this posted.


Illustration by The New York Times; photographs by Kevin Dietsch and Michael Buckner, via Getty Images

https://www.nytimes.com/2024/07/24/opinion/nancy-pelosi-joe-biden.html

By Jessica Bennett

Ms. Bennett is a contributing editor in Opinion, where she writes about gender, politics and personalities.

Can we all admit there was something supremely gratifying about watching Nancy Pelosi work over the last few weeks?

As concerns mounted among Democrats about President Biden’s mental fitness and his disastrous debate performance and as Mr. Biden responded by digging in his heels, it was the 84-year-old Ms. Pelosi — a fellow octogenarian, no longer in charge yet as shrewd and formidable an operator as ever — who took those concerns and helped organize them into a sustained pressure campaign.

When Mr. Biden said he absolutely wouldn’t drop out, Ms. Pelosi went on his favorite TV show to say he needed to make a decision “because time is running short.” When the president told her during a phone call that polling data suggested he could still win, she challenged him: “Put Donilon on the phone,” Ms. Pelosi is said to have demanded of the president, asking for one of Biden’s advisers. “Show me what polls.”

Even as Mr. Biden was becoming “increasingly resentful” of what he viewed as the “orchestrated campaign” against him, as The Times reported, she kept working methodically behind the scenes, talking to lawmakers, members of her old leadership team and her large network of donors, who slowly and steadily kept piling on. Before Mr. Biden ultimately threw in the towel last weekend, his team was bracing for what she might do next, Politico reported, with a quote that made this grandmother of 10 sound a bit like Don Corleone.

FULL story at link.