Moulton says House Democrats need new strategy

Published 6:00 pm Wednesday, November 16, 2016

WASHINGTON – Rep. Seth Moulton, D-Mass., who led a push to hold off the reappointment of California Rep. Nancy Pelosi as the top Democrat in the House of Representatives, stopped short of calling for a new minority leader but is leaving the door open to change.

“Democrats suffered a suffered a serious loss. We need more time as a party, as a caucus, to take a real hard look and listen to the American people to develop a better strategy,” Moulton said during an interview Tuesday.

“I’m not throwing my weight around one person. But clearly we need a serious discussion and perhaps a different leadership, or maybe not,” he said.

Moulton said he could back Pelosi if she can articulate a way forward for Democrats after a disappointing election that included the surprise defeat of the party’s presidential nominee, Hillary Clinton, to Republican Donald Trump.

Thus far, she hasn’t, Moulton said.

By pushing for an earlier vote, Pelosi was preventing the caucus from discussing where it goes from here, he said.

Pelosi wanted House Democrats to elect their leadership on Monday, but decided to hold off until Nov. 30 after Moulton and others protested.

Other caucuses, meanwhile, have moved forward.

Senate Democrats on Wednesday elected New York Sen. Chuck Schumer as minority leader to replace the retiring Sen. Harry Reid, of Nevada.

Senate Republicans re-elected Kentucky Sen. Mitch McConnell as majority leader, and Wisconsin Rep. Paul Ryan was re-elected speaker on Tuesday by House Republicans.

The delay by House Democrats, however, was seen as a symptom of frustration over a disappointing election that saw the party picking up only six seats.

Republicans still have a 241 to 194 majority in the House. Democrats had hoped to close the gap further, and possibly win the majority.

CBS News reported that Pelosi was initially frustrated during a closed-door meeting with fellow Democrats before relenting.

Politico reported that she was “very angry,” “furious” and “extremely defensive” during the raucous meeting.

In the interview, Moulton stopped short of saying why he thought Democrats lost the White House and failed to pick up more seats in Congress, saying he didn’t have all the answers. He did say, “The American people sent message they didn’t want the status quo.”

CBS also quoted Rep. Bill Pascrell, D-N.J., as echoing Moulton’s call for more discussion about straightening the ship.

“I really think we need to look at each other eyeball to eyeball … to get something more definitive,” he said. “We’re not only not listening to … our opponents, we’re not listening to our own comrades.”

Rep. Ruben Gallego, D-Ariz., another vocal proponent of delaying the leadership vote, told The Hill newspaper that it shouldn’t be rushed so that people believe “everything is business as usual.”

“Everything is not good. Business as usual is no longer going to work,” he said.

Kery Murakami is the Washington, D.C. reporter for CNHI’s newspapers and websites. Contact him at kmurakami@cnhi.com.