Member-only story
Pelosi Caved!
This is true, but to whom?
It was not that long ago, Nancy Pelosi was saying that she would not bring impeachment to the House floor if the vote was expected to be along party lines. Why? Because, in her words, “it divides the country.” She might have said it further divides the country, but, in either iteration, it’s fair to ask what has changed?
A narrative is taking hold firmly enough that historians will not be able to avoid it. The candidates leading in the Democratic primary — Biden, Sanders, Warren, and Buttigieg — all support impeachment. Most of the rest of the field does as well, some at higher volume than others.
The claim running loose among the punditocracy is that Nancy Pelosi has caved to the left flank of her caucus. There is no question that Pelosi has opposed impeachment while the Democrats on the left have supported it.
(Let us be clear that Pelosi’s personal politics, like those of her district, are left of center. There are not many persons in Congress who could flank her on the left, but her politics are beside the point. As Speaker of the House, she has obligations to the Democratic Caucus that come before any vote…
