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House Democrats Busy Today Selecting Replacement for Minority Leader

Aired November 14, 2002 - 11:27   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR; You're looking at live pictures outside of a closed door session on Capitol Hill. You might wonder why we're so fascinated with a closed door. House Democrats are busy today selecting a replacement for minority leader Richard Gephardt. California Democrat Nancy Pelosi is the current Democratic whip. She is expected to be elected as the new minority leader. And Pelosi is an outspoken liberal who says she wants to build coalitions by standing up to Republicans. What does this mean for the House and for the Democratic Party?
For that, we bring in our senior political analyst Bill Schneider, joining us from Los Angeles this morning.

Bill, good morning.

WILLIAM SCHNEIDER, CNN SR. POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Daryn.

KAGAN: Let's get an idea of who Nancy Pelosi is first.

SCHNEIDER: OK, she represents the eighth district of California, which is the San Francisco district. She would be, if elected, the first woman to serve as a leader of either party in the House or Senate. If the Democrats ever become the majority party, that would put her in line to become the first woman speaker of the house. And her rival for the position in the vote that's going on right now is a representative -- I think it's Harry -- it's Ford.

KAGAN: Harold Ford. Maybe to his good friends, he's Harry.

SCHNEIDER: Harold Ford of Tennessee, who is an African-American, and much closer to the more conservative, or blue dog Democrats. He's the principal rival for this. She's considered the front-runner. But look, this is a closed vote, secret ballot, one never knows.

KAGAN: We wanted to see if you've paid attention. You passed.

Nancy Pelosi, this is a woman who was born into a political family.

SCHNEIDER: That's right. Her father was a congressman from Maryland, and he was a mayor of Baltimore for a period of time, and her brother was the mayor of Baltimore. So she comes from a long line of political people. Her father was the leader of what was then a kind of political machine in Baltimore. So it's a great political lineage. She has a lot of connections to her family. KAGAN: Also, she, of course, has this big challenge ahead of her. But the woman had five kids in six years, so you know she's up to a big challenge.

Also apparently, quite the fund-raiser?

SCHNEIDER: Yes, she is. She served -- her first real political role was in 1984, when she was the chair of the Democratic National Convention host committee. That was in San Francisco, the convention that nominated Walter Mondale. After that, she won the special election to Congress to replace representative Sala Burton (ph) in San Francisco. Mrs. Burton chose her, really, as her successor, and then she won the election, and that means she's been in Congress for 15 years.

So she has connections in the party that enables her to raise money effectively, very important for a chairman of the party. That's what a lot of people want in a party leader, someone who can help them raise money. She's very well connected. She's also experienced. She has never lost an election. She serves on a couple of important committees. She's the senior Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, the senior member of the House Appropriations Committee. Those are very influential committees.

However, one of the criticisms, is she led the fight against the resolution last month, authorizing the use of force by President Bush in Iraq. She not only voted, as most House Democrats did, against that resolution. She led the fight against it in the House. Of course, it did pass, as it passed the Senate. That leads a lot of conservative Democrats to wonder is the party best led by someone who takes such an outspokenly liberal position, who stands up to President Bush on that kind of issue. It makes her a controversial choice.

There's been some grumbling from conservative Democrats. I'm not sure what it will all lead to. But very clearly, she would represent a straightforward, vigorous liberal leadership of the Democratic Party.

KAGAN: We will be watching it, and seeing what comes out from behind those closed doors. Bill Schneider, enjoy Los Angeles. Thanks so much.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com




Minority Leader>


Aired November 14, 2002 - 11:27   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR; You're looking at live pictures outside of a closed door session on Capitol Hill. You might wonder why we're so fascinated with a closed door. House Democrats are busy today selecting a replacement for minority leader Richard Gephardt. California Democrat Nancy Pelosi is the current Democratic whip. She is expected to be elected as the new minority leader. And Pelosi is an outspoken liberal who says she wants to build coalitions by standing up to Republicans. What does this mean for the House and for the Democratic Party?
For that, we bring in our senior political analyst Bill Schneider, joining us from Los Angeles this morning.

Bill, good morning.

WILLIAM SCHNEIDER, CNN SR. POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Daryn.

KAGAN: Let's get an idea of who Nancy Pelosi is first.

SCHNEIDER: OK, she represents the eighth district of California, which is the San Francisco district. She would be, if elected, the first woman to serve as a leader of either party in the House or Senate. If the Democrats ever become the majority party, that would put her in line to become the first woman speaker of the house. And her rival for the position in the vote that's going on right now is a representative -- I think it's Harry -- it's Ford.

KAGAN: Harold Ford. Maybe to his good friends, he's Harry.

SCHNEIDER: Harold Ford of Tennessee, who is an African-American, and much closer to the more conservative, or blue dog Democrats. He's the principal rival for this. She's considered the front-runner. But look, this is a closed vote, secret ballot, one never knows.

KAGAN: We wanted to see if you've paid attention. You passed.

Nancy Pelosi, this is a woman who was born into a political family.

SCHNEIDER: That's right. Her father was a congressman from Maryland, and he was a mayor of Baltimore for a period of time, and her brother was the mayor of Baltimore. So she comes from a long line of political people. Her father was the leader of what was then a kind of political machine in Baltimore. So it's a great political lineage. She has a lot of connections to her family. KAGAN: Also, she, of course, has this big challenge ahead of her. But the woman had five kids in six years, so you know she's up to a big challenge.

Also apparently, quite the fund-raiser?

SCHNEIDER: Yes, she is. She served -- her first real political role was in 1984, when she was the chair of the Democratic National Convention host committee. That was in San Francisco, the convention that nominated Walter Mondale. After that, she won the special election to Congress to replace representative Sala Burton (ph) in San Francisco. Mrs. Burton chose her, really, as her successor, and then she won the election, and that means she's been in Congress for 15 years.

So she has connections in the party that enables her to raise money effectively, very important for a chairman of the party. That's what a lot of people want in a party leader, someone who can help them raise money. She's very well connected. She's also experienced. She has never lost an election. She serves on a couple of important committees. She's the senior Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, the senior member of the House Appropriations Committee. Those are very influential committees.

However, one of the criticisms, is she led the fight against the resolution last month, authorizing the use of force by President Bush in Iraq. She not only voted, as most House Democrats did, against that resolution. She led the fight against it in the House. Of course, it did pass, as it passed the Senate. That leads a lot of conservative Democrats to wonder is the party best led by someone who takes such an outspokenly liberal position, who stands up to President Bush on that kind of issue. It makes her a controversial choice.

There's been some grumbling from conservative Democrats. I'm not sure what it will all lead to. But very clearly, she would represent a straightforward, vigorous liberal leadership of the Democratic Party.

KAGAN: We will be watching it, and seeing what comes out from behind those closed doors. Bill Schneider, enjoy Los Angeles. Thanks so much.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com




Minority Leader>