Lyndon Baines Pelosi

Prominent historian Robert Caro, among many others, considers Lyndon Johnson to have been the most effective Congressional leader ever.  The title of one of Caro's books about Johnson -- "Master of the Senate" -- says it all.  Among Johnson's many accomplishments was ensuring passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1957, which was the first such law passed since Reconstruction.  This was the legislation that lead to Strom Thurmond's historic one-man filibuster. 
 
While the 1957 Act was largely ineffectual, it did establish the office of Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights and the Commission on Civil Rights and paved the way for modifications that made a significant difference in the rights of African Americans. Johnson faced a caucus filled with Dixicrats -- southern Democrats who were segregationists and who faced difficult, if not impossible, re-election campaigns if they voted for any civil rights legislation.  But, Johnson got the bill passed, although in a considerably different form than he would have preferred.  Johnson knew the art of the possible.  And, he employed every tool at his disposal to achieve his goal -- flattery, threats and an encyclopedic knowledge of the wants and needs of his fellow Senators.
 
Substitute a 5' 4" woman for the almost 6' 4" Johnson and swap the health care reform legislation for the Civil Rights Act of 1957 and you get a pretty good picture of why we are on the verge of passing historic legislation.  Nancy Pelosi is as tough and strategic of a Congressional leader as Johnson.
 
When the story of health care reform is written, there will be no doubt that without Nancy Pelosi, it would not have become law.  Harry Reid certainly could not control the Senate and engaged in protracted and futile negotiations with so-called moderate Republicans and conservative members of his own party.  And, Reid allowed Max Baucus to monkey around with the legislation for a seeming eternity on the faint chance that doing so would secue the vote of some Republican. That Reid-created delay provided opponents with the opportunity to engage in the town hall  and other antics that quite nearly derailed health care reform.
 
And, with all due respect to President Obama, the White House dropped the ball for a very long time.  Everyone knew what was in the opponents' playbook.  We saw it in 1994, when the Clintons tried to pass health care reform legislation.  And, in the interim, we watched the opposition refine their techniques, as evidenced by Swift Boating and other nefarious and Rovian counter tactics.  Yet, until quite recently, the White House never played offense.
 
So, the job of quarterbacking this key legislation fell squarely on the diminutive shoulders of Nancy Pelosi.  And, presuming passage on Sunday, Pelosi will be the one who carried the team to victory.
 
Johnson had his Dixicrats and Pelosi has her Blue Dogs.  Without the election in 2006 and 2008 of conservative Democrats in swing districts, Democrats would not control the House.  And, while some of those freshman and sophomore Members are genuinely ideologically opposed to aspects of reform, others are mostly concerned with self-preservation.  Johnson had his progressives who wanted the Civil Rights Act of 1957 to be more substantial and comprehensive.  Likewise, some Members of the House Democratic Caucus opposed the current health care reform legislation because it did not include single payer or at least a public option.
 
Pelosi, like Johnson, knew that a "perfect" bill could not pass, but that it was better to secure the possible than hold out for unobtainable perfection.  So, when it became clear early on that single payer was dead in the water, Pelosi so declared it.  And, when inclusion of a public option proved impossible, Pelosi said so.  When faced with the Stupak anti-abortion bunch, Pelosi tried to work with them and gave them some leeway during last year's debate on the legislation, but this go round stopped negotiations and went about persuading Stupak's minions to vote for the legislation even if it is not as anti-choice as they would like.
 
Pelosi may work in giant pearls, pastel suits and high-heels, but she is every bit as fearsome, canny, determined and effective as the ten-gallon hat wearing Master of the Senate.

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