Americans may have rejected pro-abortion Speaker Nancy Pelosi and her pro-ObamaCare allies in the 2010 midterm elections, but House Democrats voted Wednesday to keep her as their leader.
In a secret ballot vote today, Democrats voted 150-43 to re-elect Pelosi to the top spot in the party caucus — albeit a demotion to House Minority Leader from the Speaker position.
Pelosi faced a challenge in North Carolina Rep. Health Shuler, a Democrat who typically votes pro-life and voted against the ObamaCare legislation that allows abortion funding.
Shuler said on Sundaythat he would run against Pelosi after Republicans defeated them overwhelmingly for control of the House.
Shuler told CNN’s Joe Johns on “State of the Union” he knew he doesn’t “have the numbers to win,” but would run anyway.
“Let’s be realistic about it, there’s very few numbers of (moderates) left, the entire House is being pushed further and further apart in their different viewpoints and the moderates have to bring our country together to move our country forward,” he said.
Before the vote, Democrats defeated an effort by pro-abortion Rep. Peter DeFazio of Oregon to put off the vote for a couple of weeks to allow time for lawmakers to consider whether Pelosi was the best choice and because of fights on down-ballot races.
In announcing she would see the Minority Leader post, Pelosi said she wanted to lead the party, which became even more pro-abortion following the defeat of some of its pro-life members who voted for the abortion-funding ObamaCare bill.
Some political observers predicted she would step aside and let someone else run the party in the House after her election failure, but she said before her decision she had “gotten a positive response” in calls to fellow Democrats.
One key factor in Pelosi’s decision may have been whether Democrats think they can win back the House during the 2012 elections, when Obama’s appearance on the ballot is expected to drive up turnout of Democratic voters. It was thought if Pelosi believes she can become Speaker again, she may vie for the Minority Leader position in the upcoming Congress.
On the Republican side, John Boehner is expected to become the next Speaker of the House and he is a pro-life champion. Other top leaders assisting him are expected to be pro-life lawmakers.
In the Senate, Republicans re-elected their pro-life leadership team, including Mitch McConnell, while Democrats went with their current pro-abortion leadership team, including Harry Reid.
