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[KTM]

70. Here's an article covering the Minority Leader vote

Its an interesting read, which has some good arguments from both sides:

"But Pelosi’s margin of victory, 134 votes to 63 for Ryan, signaled a large degree of discontent with her leadership after 14 years atop the caucus and, more broadly, with the Democratic policy agenda that many lawmakers say has grown stale. While she cleared her self-declared margin of victory, a two-thirds majority, many Democrats were stunned that almost a third of the caucus was willing to vote for a backbench lawmaker with no major policy or political experience.

Many were left wondering whether a more seasoned Democrat could have actually toppled Pelosi, with several privately suggesting these next two years would have to be Pelosi’s last as leader. Ryan’s 63 votes marked the largest bloc of opposition Pelosi has faced since winning a deputy leadership position 15 years ago that set her on a course to become the first female House speaker."

"Republicans, after years of vilifying Pelosi’s West Coast liberalism, were gleeful at the stasis among Democratic leaders. The National Republican Congressional Committee immediately hung a “Congrats Nancy!” poster atop a “Hire Pelosi” banner that had been affixed to Republican National Committee headquarters this week."

"Others remain upset at Pelosi’s control of the House campaign arm, the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, which has overseen a series of poor election performances. “We should have been recruiting earlier, we should have better targeting. I think our messaging was off,” Rep. Ruben Gallego (D-Ariz.) said Tuesday in an interview."

On the other hand, many may not realize that the detractors are moderates, not Bernie-style lefties:

"“Nothing’s going to change anytime soon. We’re going to be in the minority for the next 15 years,” said Rep. Kurt Schrader (D-Ore.), co-chairman of the Blue Dog Coalition, a centrist group. He added that Democrats need to develop “a farm team that’s not just the socialist side of our party.”"

As to why so many here disagree... well, for one I think many who argue against her here dont realize that a lot of the politicians making that argument in DC are actually Blue Dogs, not the FDR style leaders they hope for; also DU skews heavily towards the older age brackets, who have a broader view of the left's political history and who also tend to be less supportive of dramatic change.