On Tuesday, we had an over the top gushy CNN report by Dana Bash on how absolutely wonderful House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi is. This bit of excessive saccharine was followed up on Thursday with CNN's New Day host Alisyn Camerota advocating so forcefully for Pelosi as Speaker of the House, it almost sounded like she was auditioning to be her floor manager for that campaign.
What caused Camerota to make her case for Pelosi was the guest appearance of Congressman Seth Moulton who had the nerve to support another candidate for Speaker of the House. This seemed to inspire Camerota to take up the cause of Pelos (click "expand")i:
ALISYN CAMEROTA: The Democrats currently have a 27-seat majority heading into January's session but there is a split among the winners. Sources tell CNN that 17 Democrats have signed a letter pledging not to support Nancy Pelosi's bid to become House speaker again. Pelosi remains undaunted, saying she will be speaker no matter what our next guest says. Congressman Seth Moulton is leading the charge against the Democratic Party leader. He joins us now. Good morning, Congressman.
REP. SETH MOULTON (D), MA: Good morning.
CAMEROTA: Here is her direct quote. This is what she said after leaving the caucus meeting yesterday: "I will be Speaker of the House no matter what Seth Moulton says." What say you, Seth Moulton?
MOULTON: This isn't just about me, this is about a broad coalition that's representing the will of the American people. And the American people sent a very strong message in the election last week that we want new approaches to politics and new leaders in Washington. Just look at the incredible number of women, of veterans, of people of color who were elected. And if our party responds by reinstalling the same status quo leadership we've had since 2006, then we're failing the American people and we're letting down the Democratic Party.
CAMEROTA: Well, I mean, that's what you think the message is from the midterms, but the message has been interpreted lots of different ways by lots of different tea leaf readers. Here's what one of your colleagues -- Democratic Congressman from California, Brad Sherman -- says about what the message is. "If you win the World Series, you open the champagne and the manager doesn't get fired. And it's the same thing here." I mean, he takes the message that Nancy Pelosi helped win.
How dare you not allow yourself to be absorbed by the Pelosi Borg? She continued (click "expand"):
MOULTON: The vast majority of Democrats are crying out for leadership across this country -- for new leadership. That's very clear everywhere you go. So this is the message that was sent by the midterms. They wouldn't have sent such an incredibly young, diverse, dynamic class of new leaders if that wasn't the case. So I understand that there are a bunch of Washington people -- including a bunch of Washington lobbyists because she's been sending us their press releases all week -- that want Speaker Pelosi to return, but the American people want new leadership. The American people deserve new leadership. Our party deserves leaders that people look to and says -- and say that's the future of our country. And frankly, that's what our Congress should deliver for the American people.
CAMEROTA: But, Congressman, listen, I'm sure you've heard it a million times, as have we. There's no one better, it's said, at herding congressional kittens into line than Nancy Pelosi. I understand you may want the novelty of someone newer, you may want someone fresher, but who's more effective than Nancy Pelosi?
So, in Camerota's world, Nancy Pelosi must be the kindest, bravest, warmest, most wonderful human being she's ever known:
MOULTON: This isn't about novelty, this is about true leadership and our caucus has incredible leaders, including amazing woman -- women. You know, I am personally very close with Marcia Fudge, of Ohio. She's my mentor. When I came to Congress, I looked around. I asked dozens of people who could I use as a mentor? Who is someone who is widely respected, who is wise, who was intelligent, who could give me advice? And person after person said Marcia Fudge. She is the kind of new leader that we need in this party. She's incredible, she's amazing, she's from Ohio. She's in touch with Middle America. She understands what the American people want. She's the next-generation leader that people will look to and say that's the future of our party, that's the future of our country. And that's exactly the kind of leader that I want to see as our next speaker.
CAMEROTA: Can Marcia Fudge raise $49.5 million for Democratic candidates as Nancy Pelosi did last year?
At this point, Camerota seemed to go into full Pelosi floor manager mode.
MOULTON: Look, I'm not a political pundit. My job is to listen to the American people and the American people say we want new leadership. The majority of Democrats across this country say we want new leadership. We'll figure out how to raise the money. What's important is that we have leadership that's inspiring, that builds the next generation, that brings our party together rather than divides us. Someone that can really unite us in this incredibly contentious time in American politics. Someone that people across this country can say I look to that leader and that's someone that I really respect. And that's -- I think that's what you'll see in someone like Marcia Fudge or some of the other amazing new leaders that we have in our caucus. We just need to give them a chance to shine.
CAMEROTA: But are you saying that people don't respect Nancy Pelosi? What's your beef with Nancy Pelosi?
Yeah, buddy! What's your beef with Nancy Pelosi?
It continued in this vein until Camerota pulled out the gender/race card:
Very quickly, you know that there's this hashtag going around called #FiveWhiteGuys. It's going around Twitter and it says that you guys -- you're one of the white guys. This is not a delicious burger joint. This is actually about people who -- Nancy Pelosi's supporters and your critics don't think should be the decision makers. And you're featured as one of the five white guys. Should -- is -- should five white guys be the decision makers at this moment in time?
Ironically the one running against Pelosi is a black woman but little details like that don't stop Camerota while playing hardball defense for Pelosi.
