California Rep. Nancy Pelosi has been chosen as the new House minority leader, after outgoing Democratic leader Dick Gephardt's long-awaited decision to step off in pursuit of either the presidency (his probable expectation) or obscurity (his likely destination). One thing to be said for Gephardt: As minority leader, he stayed the course.
Pelosi, daughter of five-term Maryland congressman and 12-year Baltimore mayor Thomas D'Alesandro, Jr. (her brother, Thomas D'Alesandro III, also served as mayor of Charm City), is thrilled to be the first woman ever to achieve leadership of a party in either house of Congress, joyously contemplating the pleasure of joining the pantheon of such never-neglected luminaries as Geraldine Ferraro (first woman major party vice presidential nominee, to refresh the memories of those unversed in ancient history) and Anne Martin (first woman on the official ballot for U.S. Senate).
Pelosi was not a significant national figure before now, and her party desperately needs a new one. Maybe her filmmaker daughter Alexandra can make her a star. (Hey, she worked her magic on George Bush.) Otherwise, Pelosi has nothing much going for her. Serious lefties see her as a money-grubbing centrist sell-out; Bill Buckley puckishly links her to Trotsky.
So far, no one accuses her of having a fresh and vital vision to help a bleeding party stanch its wounds and move forward. If a leader in a democracy is supposed to be representative of her constituents, she's a perfectly appropriate chieftain for her party.