Not even congressional Republicans take Newt Gingrich and Dick Cheney's attacks on Nancy Pelosi seriously:“If the story becomes about us and not her, it’s a problem for us,” said a senior Republican lawmaker.[Minority Leader John] Boehner has been working to cool off other Republicans who want Pelosi’s scalp. He fears that, if Republicans move to call for Pelosi’s ouster — as Gingrich did — before laying out a case for an investigation first, then they will have squandered a major opportunity to cut into Pelosi’s authority.... “If anything, people have circled the wagons around her,” said Democratic Caucus Chairman John Larson. “All you have to do is mention the names Karl Rove, Newt Gingrich and Dick Cheney as attacking the speaker of the House ... and people see this for what it is.”Given that the CIA's notes about the briefings have several glaring errors and that statements from all parties involved have been, well, let's say delicately calibrated, it seems likely the Speaker is right in her recollection about not being briefed on waterboarding in 2002. But more than that, you have two highly discredited figures attacking her, purportedly for not vocally opposing a policy they support. Strange days.Here's the important political lesson for the GOP: It's really crushing for a party to be led by figures who have no accountability. Boehner is worried because Cheney and Gingrich are making promises he can't deliver, just as Limbaugh et. al. are writing a platform he can't sell -- it's a recipe for disaster. But these outside leaders can do whatever they want; they don't have to answer to voters or other elected Republican officials. The media is weird that way -- somehow, these former officials who couldn't win an election outside of the reddest House district you can imagine have more say in their party's position than folks like Eric Cantor or Boehner, who, say what you will, have managed to win elections recently and convince their colleagues to support them in internal deliberations. I'm trying to remember if the Democrats of 2000-2006 suffered under a similar phenomenon -- our former Vice President went into hiding for a while, and various constituentcy groups, including the netroots, made their voices heard, but all of the leadership jockeying was based around the 2004 and 2008 presidential primaries. It's a bummer for the GOP that their politicking in 2009 hasn't brought any potential 2012 candidates to the fore -- unless that Cheney-Gingrich ticket sounds promising to you.
-- Tim Fernholz
Photo courtesy Flickr user madaboutasia
