Yarmuth Learned Nothing

Emboldened by his victory, John Yarmuth flipped yesterday and announced that he will support Nancy Pelosi for House Minority Leader, instead of Steny Hoyer, as he had previously indicated. It seems that Yarmuth is so secure in his reelection that he failed to notice that 62 of his liberal colleagues have joined the ranks of the unemployed. Consequently, he is unperturbed about supporting the person who did much to cause the drubbing: Nancy Pelosi.

Certainly most Republicans would like to see Pelosi reelected: she is the gift that keeps giving.

Note that in Yarmuth's statement, he singles out the fact that she was the first woman speaker. No matter that she built a healthcare monstrosity that fueled the Democratic takeover of the House. No matter that she is so vacuous that she sees no need to read the bill before calling for a vote: "we can find out what's in it later on."

To Yarmuth, her shallowness is of no concern because, after all, she belongs to a segment of liberal identity politics, the feminists. In focusing on Pelosi's status as a woman, however, Yarmuth fails to distinguish between women and feminists. He confuses the two, even though women bailed on Democrats this year.

In any event, Pelosi will have a much easier time with her job this go-round -- so many less Democrats to keep in order.

Yarmuth makes a curious remark that his support of Pelosi is about "principles and not personalities." That seems to mean that when it comes to personalities, he doesn't much like Pelosi's. (Ouch!)

Yarmuth compliments Pelosi for building consensus in a House Democratic caucus with a broad ideological spectrum. Well, it won't be nearly so broad, come January. And Yarmuth ignores that Pelosi's big failure was her inability to build consensus across the even broader ideological spectrum that is America. That's why Democrats lost big.

Here's Yarmuth's statement, complete and unrepentant:

“Over the course of my four years in Congress, the vote that I am most proud of is electing Nancy Pelosi as the first female Speaker of the House. Speaker Pelosi has proven time and time again that she is able to build consensus in a caucus comprised of members from all across the ideological spectrum. Her dedication to advancing policies that improve the lives of all Americans is clearly evident in the significant legislative accomplishments that have been achieved with her as Speaker. These decisions, like all I make, are about what is in the best interests of my constituents and the country, about principle and not personalities - and that is why I will support Nancy Pelosi as House Democratic Leader in the 112th Congress.”