Nancy Pelosi Prepares to Take Power After 2018 Midterms

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House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), who claimed last month that the deeply fractured Democratic Party is “100 percent unified,” says her party is gearing up to take power back after the 2018 midterm elections.

In an interview with the San Francisco Chronicle outside of her House chambers last week, Pelosi said she believes “history is on our side.”

The San Francisco Chronicle wrote: “Marking her 30th anniversary in Congress, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi sees a peculiar alignment of history and politics taking shape. In the 2006 midterm election, that alignment made the San Francisco Democrat speaker of the House. In the 2010 midterms, it toppled her into the minority.”

The Democrats will need to win at least 24 seats next year in order to regain the House. Emory University political scientist Alan Abramowitz suggested to the San Francisco Chronicle the Democrats could wind up gaining approximately 36 seats due to polls showing President Donald Trump’s approval rating at 37 percent in March.

Despite the appearance of that “advantage” for the Democrats, Pelosi reportedly agreed that her party is in need of a stronger message.

Pelosi insists that if her party does not create a plan for victory, she will “put this down on a piece of paper and give it to them.”

However, the party’s lack of unity remains a looming issue. Although some of the left have claimed that reports of disunity  “overblown” by the media, the Democrats’ behavior seems to paint a different picture for the party.

Their “search for a star” in the absence of a deep bench ahead of next year’s midterm elections has pushed them to rally behind failed Missouri Senate candidate Jason Kander, who some are seeking to cast as the potential future face of their party.

Further, the ideological split between mainstream and establishment Democrats and the party’s progressive Bernie Sanders wing could stifle whatever “advantage” they may have. The Chronicle notes this lack of unity could hurt them, “just as it worked against the party in the general election in November when Hillary Clinton failed to arouse the passions of Sanders’ supporters.”

And a newly-released poll by Morning Consult shows former Vice President Joe Biden, 74, as the Democratic base’s favorite candidate, with a 74 percent favorability rating; followed by Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), 67, who had a 51 percent favorability rating. Warren, however, is seen by many observers as too far left to be competitive.

Jason Kander is currently tied for 12th place with a 19 percent favorability rating, along with Gov. John Hickenlooper (D-CO), 65, Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti (D-CA), 46, and Disney CEO Bob Iger, 66. Kander is the only potential Democratic pick for the 2020 presidential race under age 40.

Adelle Nazarian is a politics and national security reporter for Breitbart News. Follow her on Facebook and Twitter.

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