John Gizzi‘s latest report for Human Events focuses on U.S. House Democrats who are “running away from” Speaker Nancy Pelosi:
As polls show Democrats increasingly likely to lose control of the U.S. House of Representatives after four years, Republican House candidates from Sam Caligiuri in Connecticut?s 5th District to Van Tran in California?s 47th District increasingly pound at Democratic incumbents on the same theme: that on the major issues such as the stimulus package, Obamacare, and cap and trade, they are all voting down-the-line as Speaker Pelosi tells them to.
?We are going to win back the House by taking out Pelosi?s puppets,? National Republican Congressional Committee Chairman Pete Sessions (R.-Tex.) told HUMAN EVENTS last fall, referring to the nature of the campaign his committee was going to wage in districts where Democrats were vulnerable.
And so far, it seems to be working.
Perhaps the best proof of this is how embattled Democrats are now trying to distance themselves from the speaker who seems to symbolize her party?s leftism even more than Barack Obama.
In Indiana?s 2nd District, for example, Democratic Rep. Joseph Donnelly is now running a campaign ad which beams that he ?voted against Nancy Pelosi?s energy tax.? Donnelly faces a spirited challenge from conservative Republican State Rep. Jackie Walorski.
Rep. Jason Altmire (D.-Pa.), who held out until two days before the vote on the healthcare package and then voted no, wears this vote as an Olympic gold medal. Altmire, as his campaign spots puts it, ?wasn?t afraid to stand up to Nancy Pelosi.?
Rep. Mike McIntyre (D.-N.C.), long considered a moderate or even conservative Democrat, always seemed to be a safe bet for re-election in North Carolina?s 7th District. Now faced with an unusually strong challenge from Republican Ilario Pantino, deputy sheriff and U.S. Marine Corps veteran, McIntyre declares in campaign ads: ?I don?t work for Nancy Pelosi or Harry Reid.? [Emphasis added.]
