WASHINGTON (REUTERS) — U.S. Rep. Nancy Pelosi was elected leader of Democrats in the House of Representatives Thursday, making the 62-year-old California liberal the first woman to head either party in the U.S. Congress.
Pelosi will be the Democrats’ new face and voice as they regroup following their failure in the Nov. 5 congressional elections to end eight years of House Republican rule and challenge President Bush’s conservative agenda.
Flanked by colleagues with blue-and-white buttons reading “Team Pelosi,” she said, “Where we can find our common ground … we shall seek it. Where we cannot … we must stand our ground. The American people need us to do that.”
Pelosi will take over as Democratic minority leader in the new 108th Congress that convenes in January. She will succeed Rep. Richard Gephardt of Missouri, who decided not to run for re-election to the post he has held for eight years.
An outspoken liberal yet proven party consensus builder and skilled fundraiser, Pelosi became the highest-ranking woman ever in Congress earlier this year when she took over the post of House Democratic whip, the party’s No. 2 position.
The 16-year House veteran moved up to the top spot by defeating her only foe in the leadership race, Rep. Harold Ford Jr. of Tennessee, 177-29. Rep. Marcy Kaptur of Ohio, who entered the race Wednesday, withdrew shortly before Thursday’s vote.
Opposed Bush on war powers resolution
Pelosi, the top Democrat to oppose Bush on the Iraqi war powers resolution, says her party must more aggressively underscore its differences with Republicans on matters from health care and education to foreign policy and the economy.
And she rejects suggestions she may be too liberal to lead her party. Most fellow Democrats clearly agree.
As Rep. John Conyers, a Michigan Democrat, put it: Pelosi will not take the party to the right or left; instead, “she will take us forward.”
“And by being the first woman [to lead a party on Capitol Hill], she immediately convinces half the voters that Democrats are in the 21st century, which is a good start,” Conyers said.
Rep. Marion Berry, an Arkansas Democrat, said, “You can’t get much more conservative than me, and she has always worked well with me. She is really smart, she is a great organizer, she is almost impossible to say ‘no’ to, she is charming, and she has an incredible ability to raise money.”
Rep. Peter DeFazio, an Oregon Democrat, said, “I’m a big Nancy fan. She is tough, she is pragmatic, and she not only asks but listens. She will give us a strong national message.”
‘Waiting over 200 years’
When a reporter tried to ask Pelosi a question Thursday, she smiled and said she had not yet finished her victory speech.
“I’ve been waiting over 200 years,” Pelosi said to laughter. “I didn’t run as a woman. I ran, again, as a seasoned politician and experienced legislator. It just so happens that I am a woman, and we have been waiting a long time.”
Rep. Steny Hoyer of Maryland was elected without opposition to replace Pelosi as whip. Robert Menendez of New Jersey was elected chairman of the House Democratic Caucus, defeating Rosa DeLauro of Connecticut, 104-103.
Menendez will replace Martin Frost of Texas, who after two two-year terms as chairman could not run again. Frost made a bid last week to replace Gephardt as leader, suggesting a liberal like Pelosi might keep the party in the minority. But he dropped out, conceding she had the votes, and threw his support behind her.
House Republicans and Senate Republicans and Democrats re-elected their top three leaders — House Speaker Dennis Hastert of Illinois, Senate Republican Leader Trent Lott of Mississippi and Senate Democratic Leader Tom Daschle of South Dakota Wednesday.
Gephardt announced last week he would not run for re-election as Democratic leader. His decision came as he mulled a possible 2004 run for the White House.
