House minority leader Nancy Pelosi on Wednesday said she is encouraging Democrats in the House to stay at home during the Democratic National Convention to campaign.
“I’m not encouraging anyone to go to the convention, having nothing to do with anything except I think they should stay home, campaign in their districts, use their financial and political resources to help them win their election,” Pelosi said in an interview with POLITICO.
In a remarkable bit of spin, Pelosi said that House Democrats did not need to go to the convention since a Democrat is president and “there certainly will be enough people there to express that pride” before saying she is “not encouraging members to go to the convention no matter what the situation was, because they can be home. It’s campaign time. It’s the first week in September.”
Of course, many Democrats in tough races in the House, such as Rep. Mark Critz (D-PA) and Nick Rahall (D-WV), and even prominent Democrats in the Senate, like Claire McCaskill (D-MO) and Joe Manchin (D-WV), are not attending the convention.
Pelosi’s best chance to become House majority leader again is if Democrats from districts in which Obama is unpopular somehow win en masse in November.
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