Taegan Goddard's Political Wire

July 01, 2009

Pelosi's Arm Twisting Results in Big Win

Politico runs a fascinating piece on the "whipping, cajoling, begging and browbeating" used by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and her top lieutenants to sway undecided Democrats to vote for the climate change bill last week.

"In the days leading up the vote, the number of Democratic 'yes' votes was locked at 200, according to people familiar with the tally. Every time they'd pick up one vote, another would slip. Democratic leaders needed a cushion to help protect the most vulnerable among them, and they didn't have it."

"As the frustration grew, an aide joked in one meeting that White House staff should give fence-sitters the same colored leis so that the president and his Cabinet secretaries would know who to buttonhole. The desperation was such that others in the room paused for a split second to consider the joke before abandoning it as a logistical impossibility."

One of the most under-covered political stories is how Pelosi wields her power. She's a fascinating political character.

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Taegan D. Goddard is the founder of Political Wire, one of the earliest and most influential political web sites.

Goddard spent more than a decade as managing director and chief operating officer of a prominent investment firm in New York City. Previously, he was a policy adviser to a U.S. Senator and Governor.

Goddard is also co-author of You Won - Now What? (Scribner, 1998), a political management book hailed by prominent journalists and politicians from both parties. In addition, Goddard's essays on politics and public policy have appeared in dozens of newspapers across the country, including the Washington Post, USA Today, Boston Globe, San Francisco Chronicle, Chicago Tribune, Philadelphia Inquirer and Christian Science Monitor.

Goddard earned degrees from Vassar College and Harvard University. He lives in New York with his wife and three sons.

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