If you have dreamed of watching Nancy Pelosi’s face when she realizes that she won’t be Speaker of the House anymore because her party lost the majority, don’t hold your breath. The Democrats are climbing into their bunkers to ride out the wave of conservatism that is sweeping the nation in the form of ballots today.
ABC reports:
This afternoon, Speaker of the House Pelosi and Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee Chairman Chris Van Hollen will hold a photo opportunity with reporters at the DCCC headquarters on Capitol Hill. Pelosi and Van Hollen are expected to briefly address cameras, but are not likely to entertain any questions from the press.
As the polls close on the East Coast, Pelosi, Van Hollen and House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer are set to address Democratic supporters at a DCCC Election Watch Reception at the Liaison Hotel on Capitol Hill. Those remarks will also be open to the press, but the rest of the Democrats’ reception will be closed to reporters while the election results trickle in from across the country.
On the other side of the aisle, National Republican Congressional Committee Chairman Pete Sessions, R-Texas, is hosting an Election Night Results Watch at the Grand Hyatt Hotel in Washington, D.C. Sessions, who is one of the chief architects of the potential Republican takeover in the House, will be joined by Mississippi Governor Haley Barbour and House Minority Leader John Boehner of Ohio, who stands poised to take over as the next House speaker in the event of a Republican takeover tonight. The entire NRCC event is open to the press and ABC News will broadcast live from the hotel throughout the evening, including an extended one-hour episode of Nightline.
It almost feels like a celebrity family that is mourning a loss. A spokesman will come out and say a few words and then ask the press to respect their privacy as they go back to their glamorous abode to hang with family and friends. Except, unlike where you feel pity and sympathy for the family that has had a tragic loss, the American people feel no sympathy at all voting out the congress that doubled our deficit and passed an egregious overreach of power in the form of an individual mandate wrapped in the cloak of “health care.”d
What’s even more odd about this story is how the press doesn’t seem bothered by this at all. It makes sense though, because this has been standard operating procedure during the Obama administration. The Obama administration has always restricted access to unprecedented levels. When the Bush administration was accused of restricting access members of the press corps (not “corpse“) wrote letters to the White House and the Bush administration ended up changing their policy. It seems, though, that the press corps hasn’t had the same vigor to try to gain access when the other party is in power.
“Welcome to the most transparent and ethical congress! Now please, stay behind the line in your designated area. We’re trying to mourn back here!”
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