How Nancy Pelosi Got It Done

The Bulwark: “Unknown at the time, Pelosi had spoken with Biden again that day—an 84-year-old woman using her power to urge an 81-year-old man to relinquish his. Her gambit was audacious, pairing a strategic, coordinated public-pressure campaign with a willingness to privately confront a stubborn Biden and continue to cajole him.”

“Pelosi succeeded because of the trust she worked hard to maintain with Biden in the dramatic days and weeks following his fateful debate. She never publicly called on him to step aside. While Biden reportedly seethed at critics including President Obama—who sidelined him in 2016 so Hillary Clinton could run—Pelosi was talking to Biden about the reality unfolding in the data that threatened the party all the way down the ballot. At the same time, she was fielding complaints from frantic Democrats who believed the party was headed for certain defeat and a second term of Donald Trump just months from now—and she encouraged them to speak up…”

“Pelosi has long boasted of her vote-counting prowess and refusal to bring bills to the House floor unless she knew they would pass. Her campaign to get Biden to step down was not going to fail. So she was unflinching in her approach to Biden, a man she knows famously delays decision-making.”

As one Democrat said: “Nancy made clear that they could do this the easy way or the hard way… She gave them three weeks of the easy way. It was about to be the hard way.”