The Wall Street Journal reports that insiders have told them that Republicans will redouble their efforts to make House Speaker Nancy Pelosi an albatross around the necks of the Democrats.
The strategy began to unfold more obviously when the NRCC released a statement saying they hoped General McChrystal, the commander of U.S. forces in Afghanistan, would put Pelosi in her place. The GOP leveled allegations that Pelosi is playing politics with the conflict there.
Ms. Pelosi Thursday called the statement sexist. "It’s really sad. They really don’t understand how inappropriate that is," she told reporters. "I’m in my place. I’m speaker of the House, the first woman speaker of the House. And I’m in my place because the House of Representatives voted me there. That language is something I haven’t even heard in decades."
Republicans tried to reverse a downward course in 2006 by linking Pelosi to far left liberals, and using the scare tactic of the threat of having her as the Speaker, but the strategy didn’t work, as Democrats took the majority in the House of Representatives and Pelosi did indeed rise to Speaker.
In a recent Wall Street Journal-NBC News poll, 44% of respondents had negative feelings about Ms. Pelosi and 27% had positive ones, with the remaining 29% either neutral or not sure. Among independents, 53% viewed her negatively and just 20% positively. Giving the GOP a renewed sense that this time their attacks could have a positive affect for their party in the 2010 elections.