Blue Dog Calls for Pelosi to Step Down
Politico reports:
An elder statesman of the moderate Blue Dog Coalition is calling on House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) to step down from party leadership after a historic election in which she presided over the loss of 60 seats and control of the House.
Utah Rep. Jim Matheson, a co-chairman of the Blue Dogs, told POLITICO on Thursday that Pelosi should not be a candidate for minority leader —a sign that other Blue Dogs are ready to pounce if Pelosi doesn’t voluntarily cede her power.
"No," Matheson said flatly when asked if Pelosi should seek the job. "We just got whupped."
Matheson, one of a handful of Democrats who still represent districts that backed Republican Sen. John McCain in the 2008 presidential election, said he does not have a favorite candidate in mind to support for minority leader. But he contends that Pelosi is no longer in position to lead the party.
“I'm just suggesting that when you have the largest turnover since 1948, then it's time to shake things up,” said Matheson, who watched as more than half of the Blue Dog districts flipped into Republican hands on Tuesday night.
His comments come on the same day that fellow Blue Dog leader Heath Shuler of North Carolina told CQ-Roll Call that he would run against Pelosi if she runs for minority leader — echoing an earlier suggestion that he would have challenged her for speaker had Democrats held the House.
Shuler told the paper that he didn't think she would run for the job of leader.
