Nancy Pelosi rips page from Hoosier playbook amid clash with 'The Squad'

Tony Cook
IndyStar

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is a self-described left-wing San Francisco liberal, but to implement her agenda, she says, her party needs to govern more like a Hoosier.

In a wide-ranging, hour-long interview with the Indianapolis Star, the nation's highest-ranking Democrat doubled down on her pragmatic, incremental approach to issues ranging from impeachment to health care to immigration.

It's an approach that has caused conflict with the more progressive wing of her caucus, including the so-called Squad — a group of four outspoken freshman Democrats, all women of color, whose activist approach, fueled by social media, has energized many on the left but also roiled some of the party's standard bearers.

But Pelosi argues that her more measured approach has helped Democrats take back the House, primarily through victories by moderate candidates who won swing districts with campaigns that focused on issues such as preserving Obamacare.

That means no impeachment of President Donald Trump (for now). Less talk about Medicare for all. And a climate change plan that isn't "menacing" to people, she said.

In Indianapolis: Pelosi addresses maternal mortality, Trump's tweets at library event

Instead, she agreed with the message of former U.S. Sen. Joe Donnelly, an Indiana Democrat who lost his re-election bid in a race that helped give Republicans control of the Senate. Donnelly has warned his party against ceding the nation's heartland to Republicans and has cautioned that more extreme policies, such as eliminating private health insurance or abolishing the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency, has alienated many voters in Indiana. 

"I think he defined clearly the challenge for the presidential candidates," Pelosi said.

She never mentioned any members of the Squad by name, but she said her colleagues must strike a balance between representing their more liberal districts and advancing the party's cause across the country.

She pointed to the election of Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, a first-term congresswoman who unseated a longtime Democratic incumbent.

"See what happened was, when the election in New York went the way it did, that’s a district like mine. That’s not: This is the message of the Democrats and the country. That’s the message in San Francisco or the Bronx," Pelosi said.

"God bless it, that’s what I believe," she added. "I’m a left-wing San Francisco liberal. But that’s not the message for the country. And that’s not how you govern."

Ocasio-Cortez’s office did not immediately respond to a message from IndyStar.

Instead, Pelosi said, Democrats need to focus on smaller changes that are popular with broad swaths of the public, such as giving Dreamers a path to citizenship, reducing the cost of prescription drugs and enhancing background checks for gun sales. 

Despite her status as a favorite scapegoat for Indiana Republicans, Pelosi's approach is much more in line with the traditional playbook for Hoosier Democrats such as Donnelly, former governor and senator Evan Bayh and 2016 gubernatorial candidate John Gregg. 

Of course, they haven't had much success in the Trump era. He won Indiana by 19 percentage points on a ticket that included Mike Pence, the state's former Republican governor. Donnelly lost his race last year to Republican Mike Braun, but by a much smaller margin of less than 6 points.

The race proved that Democrats can do well in Trump territory, but Donnelly has argued they could do better if not for headwinds from Democrats who represent more liberal districts and promote bigger, faster changes. 

"I think the message is what Joe Donnelly was describing," Pelosi said, adding that she has the liberal credentials to make that argument.

"I feel with my experience and with my place in all of this, that I can take the heat from the left," she said.

Now, another Hoosier Democrat, South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg, is making a run on the nation's biggest political stage. He and Pelosi were both in town this week to speak to the Young Democrats of America at the group's annual convention in Indianapolis. 

Pelosi had kind words for Buttigieg.

"I don’t know him well. I’ve met him a couple times. He’s a leader for our country. What the timing is will be up to the campaign. But he is conducting himself in a way that conveys his beliefs, his dignity," she said. "I think he’s winning the campaign. Who wins the election, that’s up to the public."

The Indiana Republican Party issued a statement ahead of Pelosi's convention speech, arguing that Republican policies have led to balanced budgets, better-paying jobs and lower taxes.

"As Nancy Pelosi's plane touches down in Indiana for a stop in what her liberal coastal friends would call fly-over country, we recommend that she takes a few minutes to get out and talk with real Hoosiers," spokesman Pete Seat said. "...The Indiana way provides a night-and-day difference to the dysfunction Pelosi stirs up in Washington."

Contact IndyStar reporter Tony Cook at 317-444-6081 or tony.cook@indystar.com. Follow him on Twitter: @IndyStarTony.