Such are the vicissitudes of the Speaker of the House in this age of Rovian partisan divisiveness. United States Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, who has sold less that 4,000 copies of her most recent book, is getting a challenge from antiwar activist Cindy Sheehan, whose son Casey was killed during the Second Persian Gulf War on April 4, 2004. This should come as marginally bad news -- Pelosi is heavily favored and has vast resources -- on the cusp of her position on oil drilling, which is getting muscular negative buzz in the left blogosphere. From the Associated Press:
"Anti-war activist Cindy Sheehan has qualified to run as an independent against House Speaker Nancy Pelosi in November's general election.
"San Francisco election officials on Monday said they have verified enough signatures of registered voters on Sheehan's petitions.
"Sheehan, whose oldest son was killed in Iraq, became a symbol of the anti-war movement when she began a vigil outside President Bush's Texas ranch.
"She says Pelosi has failed the country by refusing to cut off funding for the war after Democrats reclaimed the majority in the 2006 elections."
Pelosi has had difficulty of late navigating the more liberal wing of the Democrat Party while trying to represent the interests of the House as well as not be radioactive to swing states during an election year. As a result Speaker Pelosi has made tough compromises, like taking impeachment off the docket ab initio. Also, her inability to halt the war -- in her defense, Pelosi doesn't have the votes -- has earned her some flack as she continues her book tour. On a blog entry dated July 10, 2008, one year after she first announced her candidacy, Sheehan writes:
"Now four years, three months and six days later, I live in San Francisco in a one bedroom flat in a cool Victorian home in the Mission District and I am running for Congress against House Speaker, Nancy Pelosi. I have traveled the world struggling for peace and human rights; I have been nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize and have been honored with dozens of other peace awards. I have met thousands of interesting and amazing people; I have a new grandson, Jonah; but I still miss Casey tremendously and cry everyday for his wasted life.
"... I am convinced that we will be on the ballot when the final count is made on August 28th, then there will be no stopping us! America really wants a change, and we have the opportunity for real and positive change here in California's 8th district."
No comments:
Post a Comment