When asked by Ezra Klein, an opinion columnist for the New York Times, why Democrats in the House of Representatives had held together more easily than Republicans, the former California congresswoman replied: “It’s very difficult to influence people who have no real convictions or goals. It’s difficult to negotiate with someone who doesn’t want anything.”
Since President Joe Biden withdrew his candidacy for re-election last month, reports have suggested that Pelosi was one of the Democratic leaders who urged the president to make the decision in the interest of the party’s future.
In an opinion piece on Sunday, August 18, Klein argues that while “Democrats have their own ideological tensions,” it was Donald Trump’s victory in 2016 “that transformed the Democrats into a ruthlessly pragmatic party. It was that pragmatism that led them to ultimately nominate Joe Biden in 2020. It was the same pragmatism that led them to abandon him in 2024.”
READ MORE: Harris campaign announces largest single ad buy “in the history of American politics”
When Biden resigned, he said, “Nothing, nothing can stand in the way of saving our democracy, not even personal ambitions,” Klein noted, adding, “Imagine if Trump gave up his nomination on the grounds that his personal ambitions had to be subordinated to the electoral success of his party.”
Klein writes:
There is a contradiction at the core of the Republican Party that does not exist at the core of the Democratic Party. Democrats are united in their belief that government can and should act in the public interest. Those on the far left of the party believe government should do much more. Those on its moderates believe it should do a little more. But all of the people elected as Democrats, from Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez to Senator Joe Manchin, are there for the same reason: to use the power of government to pursue their vision of good. The divisions are real and often bitter. But there is always room for negotiation because there is a fundamental commonality of goals.
On the other hand, the columnist adds:
The modern Republican Party, on the other hand, is built on a hatred of government. Some of its members want to shrink and cripple government. This is the old ethos best described by Grover Norquist, the anti-tax activist who famously said, “I don’t want to abolish government. I just want to shrink it so much that I can drag it into the bathroom and drown it in the bathtub.”
“I can’t tell you which Republican told me this,” U.S. Rep. Adam Smith (D-WA) told Klein, “but a Republican I work very closely with always said, ‘Adam, I’ll trade our nuts for your nuts.’ And I always said, ‘No deal.'”
READ MORE: “Turning over an old chapter”: Two problems Trump faces if he applies his 2016 strategy now
The congressman from Washington stressed: “I don’t think we really have any crazy people in Congress in that sense. I worked with every single member of the force on the National Defense Authorization Act. I know they’re not going to vote for it, but they’re offering ideas. As for the Republicans, when the government tries to do something, they want to try to stop it. Just a reflex.”
Klein’s full commentary is available at this link (subscription required).
