Time to put Pelosi out to pasture

OPINION:

Nancy Pelosi, at 77, is as over the hill as one can get.

Sure, she’s always been a dull bulb. But this century, she’s losing it.

Before we proceed, let’s just note that Americans should appreciate Pelosi’s long service to the United States. She’s been in office since 1987 — 40 years! — and that’s a long career. You don’t have to agree with her to know she’s served her country.

But her best days are long past. This world is far different from when she entered the House, and she has lost all semblance of contact with the common man. In 2010 she said, and we quote: “We have to pass the [Obamacare] bill so that you can find out what’s in it.” That’s like saying we need to let the mechanic do his work before he tells us how much it’s all going to cost.

You’d be hard-pressed to find a dumber statement in the 21st century.

Lately, Pelosi thinks George W. Bush is still in office. Seriously. Last month, during a TV interview, she said: “I see everything as an opportunity winning means winning for the American people. That either we win, or whoever wins, understands the priorities of the American people, and they are not with President Bush.”

Huh?

Now, Pelosi has had so much plastic surgery and is so full of Botox it’s hard to read her facial expressions — is she angry or sleepy? And the fact that she confuses the Declaration of Independence with the Constitution should scare the bejeebers out of you (it might be OK if you’re, say, a salesman for Inatrode Inc., but we’re talking the Democratic leader in the House of Representatives here).

Now, after the fourth special House election loss in a row since President Trump took office, a growing pack of Democrats wants to get rid of Minority Leader Pelosi, who they think is holding the party down.

“We can’t keep losing races and keep the same leadership in place. You have a baseball team that keeps losing year after year. At some point, the coach has got to go, right?” Rep. Kathleen M. Rice, New York Democrat, told The Associated Press.

The group of angry Democrats met quietly last week after the party went 0 for 4 in the elections, talking about options for replacing Pelosi. But that’s about all they’ve got: talk. “Right now, what I’m pushing for is a conversation within the caucus,” Rice said.

For her part, Pelosi says she isn’t going anywhere. “My decision about how long I stay is not up to them.”

But this is how these things always start in Washington. Pelosi, three years from 80, clearly knows her days are numbered. And party leaders are desperately searching for a new message — few want it to be “old white people.”

Sen. Bernie Sanders, 75, is still one of the party’s leaders (and he’s not even a Democrat!), as is Hillary Clinton, 69. But there is a new move on to inject some young voices into the party and begin to groom a new crop of leaders.

What’s more, Pelosi is still a driving force for the Republican Party — in a bad way for Democrats. In the most recent special election in Georgia last Tuesday, Republican Karen Handel put out a slew of ads featuring Pelosi, not her opponent, Jon Ossoff. She made the case that if the Democrat won in the 6th District of Georgia, Pelosi would really be running the show. Handel won handily.

Rice said it’s a tried-and-true strategy with Pelosi at the helm. “The Republican playbook has been very successful. It’s not fair. It’s not accurate in its attacks on our leader, but it’s effective. They keep winning and we keep losing,” she said.

Pelosi didn’t like all the talk last week about her demise, taunting Rice by saying, “when it comes to personal ambition and having fun on TV, have your fun. I love the arena. I thrive on competition.”

And Republicans hope she stays right there. Trump, as he does, stripped it all down in a tweet.

The GOP plans to run directly at Pelosi in 2018, tying House candidates to the Democratic leader. “This midterm is going to be a referendum on Nancy Pelosi and her San Francisco liberal values. That’s what the elections are going to be about. We saw a little glimpse of that on Tuesday,” Congressional Leadership Fund Executive Director Corry Bliss told The Hill.

So, for Republicans, Pelosi sticking around to fight is good news.

For America, not so much.