New yorker aug 16 2024

New yorker aug 16 2024

Friday, August 16, 2024

10:59 PM

Fault Lines

What Makes Nancy Pelosi So Appealing Now

Her ruthless pragmatism and reliance on subtext are refreshing after years of lefty infighting and Donald Trump’s endless blather.

By Jay Caspian Kang

August 16, 2024

 

From <https://www.newyorker.com/news/fault-lines/nancy-pelosi-memoir-what-makes-her-so-appealing-now>

 

 

 

 

What the book does offer is a look into how Pelosi believes she should fit into history: as an opponent of the Iraq War, a defender of human rights in China, and, most notably, the legislative engine that powered the Affordable Care Act. The chapter on the last of these accomplishments is the book’s most compelling. The effort to pass Obamacare required the coördination of the entire Democratic Party, and, as Speaker, this was Pelosi’s responsibility. “I considered my role to be that of a maestro,” she writes. “I was guiding great musicians who kept our shared values at the forefront while giving space to recognize and understand regional differences.” We see Pelosi as she wants us to see her: as a pragmatist who believes in truly universal health care but understands the legislative headwinds and adjusts accordingly. We see the bitterness with which she regards her Republican colleagues who tried everything in their power to obstruct the passage of the Affordable Care Act; we learn of the betrayal she felt when Senator Max Baucus and Rahm Emanuel, then the chief of staff for Obama, cut a secret deal with pharmaceutical companies that undercut key elements of the House’s version of the bill. We get the sense that, although Pelosi does not say so explicitly, the Obama White House could be both idealistic, even naïve, in its rhetoric and yet also too quick to fold in negotiations.

 

From <https://www.newyorker.com/news/fault-lines/nancy-pelosi-memoir-what-makes-her-so-appealing-now>

 

 

 

 

• What the book writes about is the role Pelosi played in American history in the years she served the House of Representatives - an opponent of the Iraq war, a defender of human rights in China and mainly the main legislative force that made the Affordable Care Act possible.
• The chapter on the last accomplishment is the most interesting.
• She had to coordinate the entire Democratic Party in the effort to pass Obamacare and as the Speaker of the House, the responsibility was hers.
• She compared herself to a Maestro who would reveal the shared values forefront while giving room to appreciate regional differences.
• Pelosi might have wanted us to see her as a pragmatist who believes in universal healthcare but understands the legislative ins and outs and makes adjustments in accordance.
• She recounts with what we feel as her bitterness at the Repulicans who so tried to stop the Act from being passed and we learn of the betrayal on the Obama administration part as they made a secret deal that went against the House's version of the law.

Paragraph summary By you gin chung