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4A Friday, November 9, 2018 The Times, Gainesville, Georgia | gainesvilletimes.com WASHINGTON/POLITICS Victory aside, Pelosi’s return as House speaker not a given J. SCOTT APPLEWHITE I Associated Press House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., speaks at a news conference on Capitol Hill in Washington, Wednesday, Nov. 7. Pelosi says she’s confident she will win enough support to be elected speaker of the House next year and that she is the best person for the job. BY LISA MASCARO Associated Press WASHINGTON — Vili fied by Republicans on the campaign trail, Nancy Pelosi emerged as President Donald Trump’s preferred choice to become speaker of the House, arriving on Capi tol Hill with an air of inevita bility after leading her party back to the majority. The Democratic leader is positioned to return to the speaker’s office after Democrats took back the House in Tuesday’s mid term elections. Already the only woman to have held the job, she would also become one of the few lawmakers to reclaim the gavel after los ing it. Pelosi is a “smart woman,” Trump said Wednesday during a nearly 90-minute news confer ence at the White House, and someone with whom he hopes to engage in “beau tiful bipartisanship” and deal-making. It was a role reversal from just days ago, when he warned voters of her “radical” agenda. She “deserved” to become speaker again after winning the House, Trump said Wednesday, adding that he looked forward to doing “a tremendous amount of legislation” once power in Congress is divided between a Democratic House and Republican Senate. At the Capitol, in the stately Rayburn Room — named after the last speaker who returned to the office — Pelosi was asked if she was confident she would become speaker when the new Con gress convenes in January. She said simply: “Yes, I am.” Yet ascent of the Califor nia Democrat is nowhere near guaranteed. Many younger House Democrats, including some of the newly elected, have pledged to vote against her. They are reluctant to shout the name “Pelosi” when the cameras zoom in during the first roll call of Congress, fearful of the attack ads that will be launched against them. As Trump and Pelosi extended overtures across Pennsylvania Avenue, they also shadowboxed around the new dynamic created by the House’s ability to probe the president’s business dealings and his administra tion. The president warned Democrats not to push too hard with their investiga tions, or he would smack back even harder; Pelosi vowed that they would con duct responsible oversight. The two have reasons to cooperate. Both want to score legislative wins to bring to voters ahead of the 2020 election. They talked on election night about doing an infrastructure package and lowering health care costs, particularly around prescription drugs, priorities for both sides. “There’s plenty of oppor tunity,” Pelosi said, noting she worked productively with President George W. Bush during her last turn as speaker. She also ref erenced Democratic Rep. Maxine Waters of Califor nia, another favorite Trump villain, who is set to lead the powerful Financial Services Committee. “Democrats come to this majority with the respon sibility not to Democrats — it’s not to Democrats or Republicans — it’s to the United States of America,” she said. “The fact is we’d like to work together.” Pelosi is likely to win first-round voting later this month to become leader, when she needs half of House Democrats to support her. But becoming speaker requires a majority of the full House, 218 votes, and her slim majority — now at 222 — leaves her little cushion. It’s not just her. Pelosi heads a trio of septuage narian leaders, with Demo cratic Whip Steny Hoyer and Assistant Leader Jim Cly- burn, who have held power since the last time Demo crats took back the House majority, in 2006. Each is poised to move up a slot. Democrats who want new leadership have been whis pering about it for weeks, and on Wednesday, several Pelosi opponents announced their intent to run for the top posts. “I’ve been saying for a long time that the Demo cratic Party leadership is in dire need of change,” wrote Rep. Filemon Vela of Texas, one of two who wants to run for the No. 3 job of chief vote-counter. “Ya es tiempo de un cambio!” he echoed his statement in Spanish. Another Democrat, Rep. Diana DeGette of Colorado, also jumped into the whip’s race. Both candidacies are a direct affront to Clyburn, the highest-ranking Afri can-American in Congress, who is in line to become the whip. He announced his bid Wednesday, pledging to “make America’s greatness apply fairly and equitably to all Americans.” Three others announced their runs for assistant leader, the new No. 4 post, including Rep. Ben Ray Lujan of New Mexico, the chairman of the campaign committee who helped lead his colleagues to the majority. So far, though, no one has mounted a serious direct challenge to Pelosi, and some are reluctant to take on the first female speaker after an election that brought a record number of women to the polls and to the House. ‘“Thank you for returning us to the majority. Now we want to say goodbye’? That’s very difficult,” said Rep. Gerry Connolly, D-Va. “But the math is very difficult for her, and it’s inescapable.” Ohio Rep. Tim Ryan, who ran against Pelosi last year as a centrist alternative, said colleagues want to do what’s best for the new members coming from districts that just flipped from Republi cans. He said those Demo crats need to be able to run for re-election in two years without being saddled with the GOP’s attacks on Pelosi. “The one thing that keeps emerging in the conversa tion is, What do we have to do to protect our new mem bers?” Ryan said. “What are we doing to protect the majority makers?” Fallout on the Republican side of the aisle is just as complicated, with Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy of California facing a challenge from conservative Rep. Jim Jordan of Ohio for the top spot in their shrunken ranks. Both said they will seek the job of minority leader. Auto Insurance Specialist • Easy Payments • Any Driver • Any Age NEW LOCATION! 2415 OLD CORNELIA HWY., GAINESVILLE Next to Rabbittown Cafe 770-450-4500 835 Oak Street, Gainesville, Georgia http://lanier-hvac.net/ Cheapest Trane in Georgia. CALL US 678-943-1351 Your Comfort is Our Priority! MARCH) JOSE SANCHEZ I Associated Press Mourners embrace outside of the Thousand Oaks Teen Center on Thursday, Nov. 8, where relatives and friends gathered in the aftermath of the Wednesday night mass shooting, in Thousand Oaks, Calif. Dems vow action on gun control after Calif, shooting BY MATTHEW DALY Associated Press WASHINGTON — Newly ascendant Democrats are promising congressional action on gun control amid a rash of mass shootings, including a late-night assault at a California bar that killed 12 people. Measures including expanded back ground checks and a ban on assault-style weapons are likely to reach the House floor when Democrats retake control after eight years of Republican rule. “The American people deserve real action to end the daily epidemic of gun vio lence that is stealing the lives of our chil dren on campuses, in places of worship and on our streets,” said Rep. Nancy Pelosi of California, the Democratic leader who is running for a second stint as House speaker. Pelosi vowed to push for a range of actions to stem gun violence, includ ing restrictions on high-capacity maga zines and a measure allowing temporary removal of guns from people deemed an imminent risk to themselves or others. The measures could win approval in the Democratic-controlled House next year but will face opposition from the Republican- controlled Senate and the White House, where President Donald Trump has prom ised to “protect the Second Amendment.” Still, gun control advocates believe they have the political momentum to make guns a central issue next year. The public’s attitude on guns is changing, said Democratic Rep. Ted Deutch, whose Florida district includes the Parkland high school where 17 people were killed in February. “We saw it start on Tuesday and we’re going to see it accelerate in January,” Deutch said. Gun control was a major issue even before the most recent shootings. Lawmak ers debated action following the Parkland attack and a 2017 shooting in Las Vegas that left 58 dead, and ultimately took mod est steps to boost school safety funds and improve compliance with the federal back ground check system for gun purchases. The Democrats’ new majority includes dozens of candidates who support gun con trol, including Lucy McBath in Georgia, whose 17-year-old son was fatally shot in 2012 and who made gun violence the cen terpiece of her campaign. At least 17 newly elected House Demo crats back gun control measures, includ ing Jennifer Wexton, Abigail Spanberger and Elaine Luria in Virginia, who defeated incumbents backed by the National Rifle Association. In Colorado, Democrat Jason Crow beat GOP Rep. Mike Coffman, who received an A rating from the NRA and more than $37,000 in campaign contribu tions from the group. “I do think there’s new energy” on gun issues, even before the California assault late Wednesday night and an Oct. 27 shoot ing that killed 11 people at a Pittsburgh synagogue, said Kris Brown, co-president of the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence. “Our base is worked up, and people are reacting in a positive way at the ballot box, ” said Brown, who campaigned with the three Virginia Democrats in the final week alongside a stream of volunteers. “A large number of folks showed up and knocked on doors and said they finally have a candi date who will do something about gun vio lence,” she said. Wexton, Spanberger and Luria all made gun violence a central issue in their cam paigns — disproving the notion that gun control is a “third rail” of politics that Democrats should not talk about, Brown said. “We’re finding candidates who aren’t afraid to talk about this issue,” she said. Please look for the in Sunday's edition of The Times. ★ ★★ Honor veterans by displaying this flag on Veterans Day and on Monday, November 12, the date Veterans Day will be observed. Wt. gainesvillelimes.com A
