The newspaper of record in California’s state capital is urging Nancy Pelosi not to try to regain the House speakership if she wants Democrats to regain control of the House.

The Sacramento Bee editorial begins by noting that the Republican Party is now “clearly” the party of Donald Trump.

But, it continues: “The Democratic Party cannot be seen as the party of Nancy Pelosi and win in November.” It adds:

It’s getting close to crunch time, and the San Francisco Democrat must put her party and her country ahead of her personal ambition and declare that she will not seek the speakership again.

This is much bigger than her. To retake control of the House, Democrats need to gain at least 23 seats in November. That’s no easy task. And it’s even more difficult now that Pelosi’s future has become a distracting campaign issue for Democrats in key swing districts, where they need moderate and even Republican votes to win.

The newspaper makes its case against Pelosi by pointing out that 45 Democratic nominees have publicly said they will not support Pelosi for speaker.

After noting that Pelosi is helpful to Republicans who routinely use her in anti-Democrat ads, the Bee chided her for “playing the victim.”

“Asked during a Sunday interview about Democrats opposing her for speaker, she accused MSNBC of being on a “jag” against her. Better than most, she ought to know that’s getting precariously close to Trump calling any critical coverage ‘fake news,’” the editorial said.

The Bee reported that Pelosi distributed a Paul Krugman column in the New York Times praising her as the greatest speaker in modern times, and questioning why she doesn’t receive proper credit for her many accomplishments, including Obamacare and the stimulus bill.

“If you’ll recall, similar statements were made about the eminently qualified Hillary Clinton – and we know how that turned out,” the Bee editorial said.

The Bee concluded its editorial by telling Pelosi that she is not the right messenger to deliver the Democrats’ “for the people” platform that promises better health care and more jobs. 

The Bee said Pelosi can still make a contribution to her California constituents without being speaker.

“But if she truly believes what she says about how important it is for Democrats to retake the House so they can stop Trump, she must accept that it can’t be with her as speaker,” the Bee editorial said.

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