NANCY PELOSI, the Democratic Speaker of the House who was the chief hate figure for Republicans during the midterm election campaign, announced yesterday she will stand for House minority leader in the 112th Congress which begins in January.
Ms Pelosi (70) is from the liberal wing of the Democratic party and was under pressure from more conservative Democrats to step down after Republicans seized more than 60 House seats in the November 2nd election.
Republicans made “Fire Pelosi” their campaign slogan. A controversial graphic on the Republican party website showed Ms Pelosi engulfed in flames. They blamed her for shepherding through the two pieces of legislation most hated by Republicans: the healthcare Bill and the financial reform Bill.
In yesterday's Washington Post, the Pulitzer Prize-winning columnist Eugene Robinson praised Ms Pelosi's competence, but described the conservatives' caricature of her as "the effete 'San Francisco liberal' who knew nothing of America outside her mink-lined cocoon, where the taps ran with Chablis and nourishment consisted of unpronounceable French cheeses, served on silver platters by waiters who were certainly gay."
Ms Pelosi announced her decision on her Twitter account, then issued a longer statement saying: “Our work is far from finished. We have no intention of allowing our great achievements to be rolled back.”
Republicans reacted gleefully to the announcement. Ken Spain, the spokesman for the National Republican Congressional Committee, said: “The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again, and expecting a different result. Of course, if House Democrats are willing to sacrifice more of their members in 2012 for the glory of Nancy Pelosi, we are happy to oblige them.”
Michael Steele, the chairman of the Republican National Committee, said his “breath (was) taken away by that announcement”.