Next Speaker of the House

[genius]

Who would make the best speaker of the House of Representatives, starting in 2005?

[benddem]

1. Nancy Pelosi

n/t

[molly]

2. AMEN!!!

[genius]

3. Nancy Pelosi voted for Homeland Security and to nonsuit kids poisoned with

mercury by the drug companies. Anyone with kids should oppose anyone with her voting record.

[genius]

5. Nancy also needs to read the First Amendment

before she criticizes fellow Democrats for not saying "under God" when leading the pledge. If you meet her, you'll discover that her problem is that she's really not all that smart.

[Walt Starr]

17. Yup, it's the standard reward for minority leader when the power shifts

That's why Gingrich worked so hard to get a Republican majority in '94, because he KNEW he'd become majority leader.

[IronLionZion]

4. Jim McDermott

cause he is a good guy and has guts.

I don't like Nancy Pelosi and if I ever meet her, I'll tell her to take off her pearls and diamond earrings.

I STRONGLY supported the war in Afghanistan and that war is not finished yet. I hope Kerry goes through with the war against Al Qaeda.

[wicket]

6. Bernie Sanders!!!!

http://bernie.house.gov

[genius]

19. The only reason I didn't include him is because he's not a Democrat

If they choose him, I'll be impressed.

[AntiCoup2K4]

7. Damn.... Kucinich vs McDermott - that's a tough call.

Guess I'll go with Jim just cause he's a local boy ;)

But neither is gonna happen until the DLC is demolished.

[genius]

20. Well then we've got our work cut out for us.

[whistle]

8. How are Speakers of The House selected....

...after the party with the majority is established? I thought it had to do with senority. Tip O'Neill was the democratic house speaker for years up until Newt Gingrich got in as the party leader with his contract to screw America. Then Hastert was selcted in 1998 when Gingrich was tossed out because of misconduct, correct.

[no name no slogan]

9. It's by a vote of the party caucus

Seniority may play a role, but it's not the determining factor. All the party positions (majority leader, whips, speaker) are all determined with a vote by the party caucus.

BTW, Tip O'Neil (speaker, 1976-86) was the last speaker to appoint his chief whip. After that, it became an elected position with Jim Wright. For more information on how the selection works, go check out Tip's book "Man of the House". He gives a pretty good play-by-play of how he was elected. Very interesting.

[genius]

18. Hopefully we vote in some good Democrats this year

So they can pick the right leader. I also forgot Cynthia McKinney. She'll be back.

[WMliberal]

10. you left out Bob Livingston

who was the de facto speaker of the house during the impeachment proceedings. He was another shining example of GOP hypocrisy and had to step down himself; paving the way for Hastert.

[Cocoa]

11. Henry Waxman

imagine Cheney's reaction. :-)

[genius]

15. I like Waxman too.

[Zing Zing Zingbah]

12. Corrine Brown

because she happens to be the representative for my district.

[DemWitch]

13. Nancy will be speaker...

And look for Harold Ford to be the Majority Whip...

[genius]

16. Not unless we want to lose the next election.

[Crachet2004]

14. Nancy Pelosi.

[RichV]

21. Pelosi

Maybe Hoyer or Menendez. But a female Speaker would be great, and Pelosi has proven herself.

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

22. Any of them, including Nancy Pelosi who voted against the war.