The more I see of House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, the more I’m convinced that Nancy Pelosi put him in place to make the end phase of her tenure atop the House Democrats look brilliant by comparison.
Granny Boxwine was one of the most powerful House speakers in American history. A lesser politician would have been out on his or her ear after the shellacking that the Democrats took in the 2010 midterms. She not only survived and remained minority leader, but hung around long enough to become speaker again. True, she was helped by the fact that we let members of Congress stay in office until they drop dead during a floor speech, but she’s also a political force who few in the Democratic Party are willing to go against, even now that she’s “just” a congresswoman. She did kind of limp towards the finish line at the end of her second stint as speaker, though.
There was never any doubt that she would hand pick her successor, and she needed one who would make Democrats miss her being in charge.
Hellbound and Down 