This CNN Headline Shows Why "Changing the Party From the Inside" Is Next to Impossible
(CNN)Speaker Nancy Pelosi told House Democrats on Thursday "don't embarrass" President Joe Biden by voting down a $1 trillion infrastructure bill amid Biden's trip overseas, a warning that underscores the high stakes of the moment for the divided party as the President's agenda hangs in the balance.
House Democratic leaders are pushing for a vote on the infrastructure bill even as key progressives signal they plan to withhold their support, a dynamic that could force leadership to delay the vote for the second time in two months and deal a major blow to Biden on the world stage.
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Pelosi's admonition not to "embarrass" the President came during the closed-door meeting. She also said that she would put the infrastructure bill on the floor later Thursday and hold the vote open to get the bill through.
In other words: the platform House members ran on and their politics mean little when their party leader's reputation/feelings are on the line.
Also, note that the leadership is asking the more progressive Democrats to not "embarrass" them by not accepting a weaker bill, while all but exonerating the more conservative Democrats in the Senate for creating this situation in the first place. Joe Manchin and Krysten Sinema get away virtually scot-free for removing any of the few positives this legislation had.
The expected mid-term bloodbath will be, in part, due to the Democrats' failure to meet the needs of the people who voted them into office, not their failure to make leadership look good.
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