Chief of staff. Before that i held a number of different positions with another member and with two committees. Being the chief of staff of the speaker is very much like drinking out of a fire hose everyday. We had two years under president bush. Then two years under president obama. During that time we covered everything from the financial collapse to the passage of health care and stimulus and the after effects of the financial meltdown. The last two years we lost the majority so we were in the minority. And highite a diverse pressure ride i o is described as just drinking out of a fire hose everyday. Host i want to show viewers with the speaker has to say when she was asked about the election results. [video] we had a very deep victory two years ago. I dont think people are quite understanding of the 40 seats that we won, 31 were in trump districts. He wasnt on the ballot and right away we said he is going to be on the ballot. At the steeper climate these districts. We saved most of the seats. We are very proud of that. We now have a president of our party in the white house, joe biden. We have a majority in the house, albeit smaller, but nonetheless a majority. Chairs of, committees, subcommittees and the rest. The beautiful diversity of our caucus. We see it as a tremendous opportunity as we go forward because we have to address the fact that President Trump, to his credit, turned out a big vote in some of these districts. People wondered how he won the before, they were so trumpian. With him on the ballot bringing a bigger vote. But we are getting ready for the next time. A number of candidates have already said they will run again. I will not make any announcements for anybody but a number have told me they are ready. They love being in congress. They were proud to have one. Won. Ve they were proud of the campaign they made. Host this figure thought the Democratic Party the speaker thought the Democratic Party would pick up seats and they lost seats. How did that happen . At theyou have to look 2020 outcome, which was disappointing for democrats in terms of the house and senate in the context of what happened previously. From 2010 reapportionment, democrats were disadvantaged in many states. They did not do a good job in the 2010 election with respect to legislatures that your boundaries. Republicans were able to maintain a majority for most of the subsequent decade. In 2018, the public reaction was very strong against President Trump. Democrats came out in large numbers. We saw a lot of folks switching among suburban women and democrats were able to win in 31 seats President Trump had carried just two years earlier. By the nature of these offyear elections where it is a different electorate, usually a smaller electorate, and very the firstssessment of two years of the president ial term, democrats were able to pick up a significant number of seats in the swing districts. There are not that many swing districts anymore. In 2020, they lost a small number of districts in a very large historically the largest election turnout in the history of the United States. Thent have any question speaker and democrats in general would have liked to have won and retained those seats and pick up additional seats. The fact of the matter is they are not that many swing s seats in the congress. In 2018, many were vulnerable. In 2020, unfortunately it was a democrats that had margins shrink and it will be a democratic majority but a smaller one. In the house of representatives in particular, the majority is important. If you dont have 218 votes, you just having a conversation. That means the democrats will elect a speaker and control committees, elect chairs and establish the agenda for the house of representatives. Even though it is a narrow margin and it will be difficult when you get down to vote, the democrats are affection factional iced party factionalized party. Democrats remain in the majority and that was the primary goal. Host John Lawrence, the x clinician right now the explanation right now we do about the make about the districts. What was it . Abigail spanberger says this. We want to talk about Funding Social Services and ensuring good engagement and community policing. Lets talk about what we are for and not ever use the word socialism ever again. While people think it doesnt matter, it does matter. We lost good numbers because of it. Guest i dont think there is any question in certain districts and in some of the districts democrats lost using the word socialism is probably not the prime idea for messaging. I would just point out it is not as though socialism was the message or the frame the Democratic Party decided to use in 2020. There were a handful of people on the Democratic Caucus who talked about democratic socialism and socialist policies. The republicans were fairly words to using those suggest that was the overall objective of democrats in general. It wasnt and i think with the president elect biden and other Democratic Candidates were clear. That small group of people within the party using that language did not speak for them and do not speak for the agenda of the party. You cant control what other people say. The one thing i know from almost 40 years inhouse politics is that these elections are won and lost at the district level. You have to look at the dynamics and at specific districts. I appreciate representative samberg. She understands her district. I dont know if she knows the details of what happened in the other districts or what variable or message it was that led to those seats. I would point out that the nature of those districts was very tenuous. In an Election Year we had a large turnout. It is not surprising we would lose really a handful out of those 31 seats. The democrats are going to have to work hard on their messaging because there is an ideological diversity within the party and what works in one district will not work in every district. I worked on nationalizing health races and messages. Its a tricky thing to do. You have to remember that message of socialism and the farleft, that was pushed by hundreds of millions of dollars of republican messaging. There was not a dime of democratic money or democratic effort meant to promote that message in any congressional district. Host we invite viewers to join the conversation. What you think that november 3 election mean and democratic leadership. Our guest is John Lawrence, former chief of staff to nancy pelosi. Visiting professor at the university of california washington center. He has written the book, the class of 1974. It was released in march of 2018. Yourlawrence, what is advice if you were still chief of staff about how she governs over the next two years . Her opposition, her opponent, minority leader Kevin Mccarthy is predicting republicans take back the house in 2022. Guest i think mrs. Pelosi understands very well you cannot do the Congress Forward by looking over your shoulder. She has been and remains quite interested, notwithstanding some of the ways she has characterized, trying to frame legislation in a bipartisan way. Canknows legislation that be developed in a bipartisan way endures much better and gets better public buy in and does not face the kind of factional attacks wetionalized have seen from much legislation. , asink she understands that we have seen from house apublican party since 2009, refusal to participate in all most all legislative initiatives. No matter how much they were involved. That includes the Affordable Care act where there were hundreds and hundreds of republican amendments considered and many adopted. Yet no republican votes. Did you have to go forward. She will have a difficult time putting together those 218 democratic votes, let alone bringing republican votes along. I go back to what we heard from senator mcconnell. Make barack obama a oneterm president. What we heard from republican leader john boehner in 2010. We have no interest in working on you with jobs legislation or health legislation. I was in the room of those things were said. I think the speaker will have to make a determination that there are certain hyper yardage the American People want, whether it is covid legislation, health care, prek and education support. Whether or not that is climate change. We will move forward legislation. We will develop it away that keeps democrats together and hopefully attract some republicans. If we get this absolute refusal to participate, we will still push that legislation and this time have a president that supports it. Host brian in illinois, independent. Caller good morning. I have spent my life as a union electrician. Many family members were members of organized labor. An issue i think the democrats get wrong and the democrats lost ground in the house this past election is immigration. Democrats, the liberal urban elite say immigration is nothing but good. There are a lot of good aspects to it. What drives workingclass class and working people crazy is that the Democratic Party, the people attitudeit have this that we can have semiopen borders. They dont come out and say that but if you added their policy positions, it is mass migration. We are coming out of this viral pandemic. Good paying jobs are going to be at a premium. Most americans are having a hard time making a living. We have leaders of the Democratic Party that want to say let in more immigrants. Host the issue of immigration, John Lawrence . Guest i dont think thats what the democrats are saying. You are repeating the way republicans mischaracterized democratic positions. I would point out when president obama was in office he was criticized by members of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus and others for taking the very vigorous position on Border Security and deportation. Senate look back at the when it was under democratic control in 2013 that passed a comprehensive Immigration Reform bill similar to the house. Speaker boehner refused to allow a hearing on it. I dont think it is fair to say that a party is for open borders. I dont know any democrat supporting that. Democrats have in the last two years when in the majority have supported additional money for Border Security. They also support money for not throwing children out of the country who were brought here and are productive residents, productive in the military or in the universities. Childrenot want putting cages putting cages. The Republican Party was in control of the house of representatives in 2010 to 2018. They are in charge of the senate since 2016. They had plenty of opportunity, particularly under two years of President Trump to develop a comprehensive immigration bill that the democrats did when they were in control of the senate in 2013. They had not done anything. They said immigration policy is to lockup children and throw people out of the country. That is not an immigration policy. That is a punitive policy. Look, there is a Huge National consensus that we need strong borders but we also have to have a reliable Amnesty Program and a program that deals with the 12 Million People already here, particularly with young people that were brought here through no action of their own. That is going to have to happen on a collaborative, bipartisan basis. We will see from President Biden and likely Speaker Pelosi an opportunity to do that. The question is whether people will be supportive and are going to join in that effort or we will just hear continuation of policies that really denigrate refugees and people who have legitimate claims to come to the United States under current federal law. Host andrew in houston, texas. Democratic caller. Caller you for taking my call. Thank you for taking my call. Texas,gards to my state, the democrats did not do as well as we had hoped. They did not do as well in the statehouse for the state legislature. Also had a couple of races of the houston area. Dan crenshaw and another candidate. Host why do you think that was . Why do you think that happened . Caller part of it was messaging. I think the events of the summer the civil unrest we saw you saw extremists from both sides in the streets. I think people in texas consider themselves to be lawabiding citizens and have a lot of respect for lawmen. That goes to our history with the sheriffs and the texas rangers. Defund the police really did hurt them. Im sure mr. Lawrence would agree with me that there really werent any elected officials from the democrats out calling for defunding the police. Once again we had to battle misinformation and i would like to say to all the voters out there, democrat or republican, stand in the light of the truth. Do not believe this information. Vet your information well and do not be prone to extremism and provocation. Thank you. Host John Lawrence, isnt it a messaging gain . Did democrats fall short on that . Guest i think there is probably no question the civil unrest that occurred was not helpful in terms of distracting public attention from other issues. 1. I would make is lets remember in all of this covid assistance we have been the democrats have been trying to pass, but good chunk of money that goes to state and local governments to help with police and other first responders. That has been blocked by the senate. When we get down to the question of who is supporting the police and who has been supporting interoperability of communications and support for state and local Law Enforcement through the Legislation Congress actually runs and funds, democrats have been very supportive of that. I think the caller understands this. There is an effort to take the actions of a few hundred people in a few cities around the country we are talking about ridiculous antipolice policies, which are not supported by even the Minority Community by any assignn the cities, and that rhetoric to members of the Democratic Party. You can count the number of people who would use that language on one hand in the congress. That is not representative of the Democratic Party. We have to do a better job making it clear democrats pulled a strong record in terms of providing Financial Assistance and support both in terms of funding, helping state and local governments, in terms of equipment to help the police do their job responsibly. At the same time democrats will be strongly outspoken that the Civil Liberties and civil rights of american citizens have got to be respected by everybody. When we have situations like george floyd in minnesota and other cases, people have a right to protest. People have a right to demand police reform. Host John Lawrence, here is a text from nathaniel, a democrat in waverley, ohio. When will Mitch Mcconnell and nancy pelosi finally come to terms and agree on an american stimulus package . The Washington Post editorial time argues today it is the speaker negotiate with republicans. When negotiations between mrs. Blows the other Trump Administration broke off before the election the latter had upped its offer to 1. 9 trillion. The speaker objected. It lacked details such as the proposal such as a plan for containing the virus and was smaller than the 2 trillion the house passed in october. President trump was sending mixed signals well Mitch Mcconnell well Mitch Mcconnell would accept anything more than 500 billion. Pelosisbelow sees strategy was to hold out, it did not work out. Did she misplayed her hand . Guest i think that was very wrongheaded. You cant negotiate with yourself. The way in which even the Washington Post trained that point, you have one suggestion coming from President Trump. Another coming from senator mcconnell. Another coming from the other groups of republicans. Even on the sheared top level number there is no agreement. Mrs. Pelosi past three different versions of the stimulus bill. It has come down each time. Still she cannot get the republicans to come and say heres the bill the House Republicans will support, the Senate Republicans will support, and the president will sign. She cannot continue to go to negotiations and say if i lower the number to this number . How about if i lower the number to this number . That is counterproductive to her interest. Point number two is this is not a numbers game. We are talking about what the money is used for. Republicans are still not willing to give adequate on appointment assistance. They are not supporting extended nutrition assistant. They are not supporting aid for state and local governments. And up to the election they opposed additional Financial Assistance to aid the states and complying with the kind of special needs they have because of the election. It is not just a numbers game. There are two obligations here. The republicans have got to get their act together. The democrats in the house passed three bills and the republicans,enate congressman mccarthys public into the president are playing three different fields. They are not in agreement and misses below seat nobody can negotiate where she has one position and there are three other positions coming at her. We have to agreed not just on the number. You have to agree on what the money is used for. I dont think she is being unreasonable. She is saying, then offer come with an offer. She cant create the republican position for them. They have to do that hard work and they are refusing to do it. Host talking with John Lawrence , former chief of staff of Speaker Pelosi. Jake sherman of politico tweeting up mark meadows will be with the Senate Majority leader today in the capital. Government funding also runs out and 23 days. In addition to possibly having an agreement over more economic thefor the covid pandemic, congress and white house have to agree on a government spending. John lawrence, what do you think will happen . Guest this is a continuing resolution because congress was not able to reach an agreement on all 13 appropriation bills by september 30. They have to continue funding. They do in shortterm increments. One option is another shortterm continuation until sometime after the Biden Administration takes office. Most people would like to see and on the best. Mnibus. T an on th when the new Congress Comes in, they have to start working on the 2020 to budget and the appropriation bills. They dont want to be handicapped having to work on the 2021 version. These bills to get worked out because there is a huge penalty here if they dont. The government can shut down. Nobody wants to see that happening around the holiday season, particularly with the kind of difficult organizational things that exist during the covid crisis in congress. There is a fairly good likelihood they will come together. Whether they do that for a shortterm continuing resolution or a longerterm omnibus is based on how well negotiations go. These kinds of issues generally get worked up because they encompass the vast range of legislation that affects virtually every area of the congress. Everybody has an interest in getting them solved. Host dylan and sturgis, south dakota. Caller i appreciate it. The virus has gone governore since our let the bike rally in here. A lot of our kids are getting it from schools too. Police, we need our police here. I am a disabled veteran. My wife died of covid about eight months ago. She couldnt get the chemo. She ended up passing away. People are on v. A. And social security. I hope the government does not shut are paid down because there are a lot of people at food banks. A lot of people arent even Wearing Masks around here. When the rally came, nobody was wearing a mask. It was like madness around here. Now we are just booming. Tosident trump, he goes up Mount Rushmore up there. There were 6000 people. Nobody was hardly Wearing Masks. It just spread like crazy around here. It is just terrible appear. Host i am sorry to hear about your wife. John lawrence, . You are thoughts . Guest express my condolences on the loss of his wife and appreciation for his service to the country as a veteran. I remember the sturgis motorcycle rally. A huge annual event in south dakota. Governor was very strongly opposed to Wearing Masks. My son is a doctor. Hes in the hospital everyday. He assured me the coronavirus is a nonpartisan virus. It has nothing to do with being a democrat or republican. Quite frankly, if you look at just the way canada, just across the border from us and nothing far from south dakota, is managing this crisis. Very small cases. Looking at australia. There are ways to deal with the crisis. The science is in physicians say we could have 90 containment if we just wear masks. There is no reason whatsoever why we would should not be Wearing Masks and doing all these other things that can really reduce the spread. D. C. Tofrom washington, new mexico at the beginning of october when the president was in the hospital. I would say 95 of the people we saw along the way and nt and hotel for not Wearing Masks. Now you have that explosion in the central area of the country. Im not surprised. I just hope that tragic cases dylan relate in his own family relayed and his own family finally make the point to people. There something we can do to reduce the spread of the virus and contain it. Host John Lawrence, what is it like to work for Speaker Pelosi . Guest im glad you asked that. I am writing a book right now about that. Hopefully i will be able to finish it reasonably soon. It takes the reader behindthescenes inside the conversations and negotiations and personal discussions that explain how she works. Know therebviously i are different views of her. I have a particularly personal one. She is tireless. Is this unique combination of political strategist who understands things like messaging and campaigns and fundraising, but also understands the intricacies of a vast array of policies. She is a vigorous defender of her institution, which she views as a coequal branch of government. Coequal with respect to the senate. She is a firm advocate for her members. That involves ceaselessly meeting with her members. That includes the vast array of ideological points of view within the caucus to try to formulate policies that unify democrats and help them in terms of both their particular constituencies and electorally. She has the capacity for sheusting her staff because at 11 00 ortty much 12 00 in the evening as she is at 7 00 at night. There is a reason she has been elected repeatedly since 2002 as a democratic leader. If u. S. Totty good why that was and hopefully i will be able to convey that in the new book. Host House Democrats hold leadership election today and tomorrow. Someone at Hakeem Jeffries to challenge the speaker. What he think about that and what do you think about Hakeem Jeffries is the future of the party . Guest i think congressman jeffries made the right decision. Im not sure he had a decision to make because im not sure with the argument against mrs. Pelosis continuation would have been, which is why no one decided to run against her. Two years ago when there was an organized effort to move against her, one of the people leading moulton, wasseth interviewed and he said shes a really good strategist and a really good fundraiser in a really good negotiator. Why are you opposing her in that case . Caucus must remember they make this decision as to what is in the best interest of the Democratic Caucus. When the Republican Caucus decided Newt Gingrich was no longer the right person to be speaker, they threw him out. When the Republican Congress decided john boehner was no longer the right person, they threw him out. The democrats have retained nancy pelosi because she keeps the caucus together and she maximizes the chance for the caucus to expand its numbers in the next election. What has been happening in the last several years has been a new, Younger Generation of democratic leaders, including mr. Jeffries and Kathleen Clark of massachusetts and others have been moving into secondary leadership positions within the caucus. Of. Pelosi has promoted many those people into positions like assistant speaker or to keep positions and Committee Chairmanships and subcommittee positions so they are in a position to develop the legislative and political expertise to serve the next generation of leaders when that is going to occur. I think there is a high level of confidence, both within the caucus, with her continued leadership for the next two years and also they can now look over the next Congress Work two a or two and say we have Skilled Group of people who learned the complexities of the caucus, the rules, and negotiations that take place in the house and senate and white house. That next generation will be in place whenever mrs. Below see for the hello see mrs. Caucus the host what are her weaknesses or vulnerabilities . Know, i aml you probably not the best person to ask. I tried to take a dispassionate look at her. I think there is always some she has accumulated so much power within the Speakers Office that the regular order, that is going to the committees with legislation has been diminished. More and more power is concentrated in the office of the speaker. I would just point out two things. Number one, two that has become an issue over the last 20 years or both parties because of the narrowness of congressional margins. Developing legislation and committees that often produce legislation satisfactory to the committee but not necessarily to the caucus or the house as a whole has become problematic. We have narrow margins. You have a lot of discipline in designing a legislation. The other is that it is true more legislation is formulated at the speaker level. People need to understand it is not just like the speaker is sitting around and penciling in the policy. She is bringing in the chairs of committees, subcommittees, leaders of different caucuses in th