Opinion | Did Pelosi Just Push Dems To Lie To Voters?
CORRECTION: A previous version of the headline on this article stated that Rep. Pelosi had instructed Democrats to lie in order to win in 2018; she did not say that explicitly. What she said was, “do whatever you have to do, just win.” The article was originally intended to be a commentary piece on “whatever you have to do,” as “whatever” can clearly be construed to mean unethical or even illegal acts. However, the piece as published did not make that clear, and moreover, it sounded dishonest, which was definitely not our intention. We edited the headline and the article on Aug. 21, 2018, immediately after it had been brought to our attention, and apologize for whatever confusion our unclear headline might have caused.
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Two things that President Donald Trump’s critics routinely pounce on him over are his supposed attacks against a “free press” and his alleged lies, as well as alleged lies told on his behalf from administration members, associates and supporters.
Yet, some of us believe both of those acts were just committed or condoned by prominent Democrat and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, and the media has largely remained silent. Go figure.
Pelosi appeared on MSNBC’s “AM Joy” on Sunday with guest host Jonathan Capehart, a Washington Post columnist, for a wide-ranging discussion during which she lashed out at a supposed media conspiracy to undermine her leadership and encouraged Democrat members of the House to lie to their constituents in order to get elected.
“First of all, let me just say this, and I know NBC’s been on a jag of this, this is one of their priorities, to undermine my prospects as speaker, but putting that aside, I have not asked one person for a vote,” Pelosi said of the media reports of growing discontent among rank-and-file Democrats in the House.
“I haven’t asked a candidate or incumbent for a vote. What’s important, and I know better than anybody how important it is, is for us to win this election because I see up close and personal what Republicans and this president are doing,” she continued.
Pelosi decried how the GOP was spending “tens of millions” of dollars on ads in competitive districts that specifically target her, and claimed that she wouldn’t allow Republicans to have a say in who should be the leader of the Democrat Party.
“They’re afraid of me,” she said of her Republican counterparts. “Because I outraise them in the political arena, because I outsmart them at the negotiating table and because I’m a woman who’s gonna be in a seat at that table.”
Pelosi then shifted her attention to the upcoming midterm elections, told the members of her party to “do whatever you have to do, just win,” and then I’ll try to get your vote for Speaker. Wink. Wink.
Okay, there was no winking, but it looked to me like that was the only thing missing from Pelosi’s here’s-how-we-win-this-no-matter-what speech.
Let’s think about this a little more closely. Pelosi brought up the masses of GOP attack ads targeting her in other congressional races and the fact that the GOP is trying to make 2016 a referendum on her.
She said, “Now, I do believe that none of us is indispensable, but I think I’m the best person for the job and I won’t let the Republican ads, which are just … flooding these districts, and I say to the candidates ‘do whatever you have to do, just win baby,’ then, “We must win this. When the caucus decides, it will decide whose name they will send to the floor, and then, and only then, after the election will I ask people for their support,” she added.
So her response to those Democrats who worry about being tied to her is “do whatever you have to do, just win.”
Then she says that after the elections they can decide who they want to support for Speaker.
To my mind what that boils down to is her saying “if it’ll help you win, say you don’t support me.” And in her very next breath telling candidates that after the election, they can decide if they want to support her or not.
This would be like my saying to an engaged woman, “just tell your fiance you’re not going to cheat with me, then after the wedding you can cheat with me if I convince you.” Wink. Wink.
That’s obviously an invitation — a plot, even — to mislead an innocent person. And in my opinion it’s exactly what Nancy Pelosi gave Democrats license to do in the name of of gaining power for herself.
Many Democrats know — including Nancy Pelosi, it would appear — that speaking truthfully to voters about the progressive Democrat platform and the prospect of Pelosi regaining power as speaker of the House will not win them any support, so they’re left needing to lie about what they’ll do and who they’ll support to gain votes.
And that is a real betrayal of this country’s vaunted “democracy” if ever there was one.
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