DCCC chief says Pelosi isn’t a liability for Dems

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (Calif.) is no longer a political albatross for Democrats in conservative districts, according to the party’s House campaign chief.

Pelosi was routinely linked to Democratic candidates and incumbents over the last two election cycles as a way of characterizing them as too liberal. Republicans used that strategy again this spring against Rep.-elect Kathy Hochul (D-N.Y.) in the 26th district special election.

The National Republican Congressional Committee ran a TV ad featuring Hochul as a puppet of the former Speaker, who had raised money for her in Manhattan. Hochul bested Jane Corwin by four points, despite being outspent three-to-one by the Republican.

“They tried to make this a referendum on Nancy Pelosi and it failed,” Rep. Steve Israel (N.Y.), chairman of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, said Wednesday.

Outside groups such as the GOP-aligned American Crossroads and House Majority PAC, a Democratic group, also invested some $2.3 million in advertising during the race, according to the Center for Responsive Politics. 

{mosads}”Karl Rove and his allies, the Republicans tried to rehash and recycle the 2010 playbook and it failed,” Israel told reporters at a breakfast sponsored by The Christian Science Monitor. “People for voted for a candidate who will protect Medicare.”

Israel said it was time for Republicans to rethink using Pelosi’s name as a political bludgeon.

“Any dispassionate analysis of New York 26 has to require the Republicans to rethink their strategy of trying to weave leader Pelosi into these elections,” he said. “If something doesn’t work, don’t do it anymore. It didn’t work for them.”

Meanwhile, retirements could be an issue for Israel as he looks to pick up 24 seats for Democrats in coming elections and reclaim the House majority.

Eleven Democratic House members retired before the 2010 midterms. Eight of those open seats were claimed by Republicans, who captured a total of 63 seats last November.

The Senate Democratic leadership has been pressuring its members to make decisions early about leaving office so they can better prepare for the open-seat races. But Israel said he wasn’t pressuring his members to make that call.

“Republicans have more to lose from their rumored retirements than we have,” he said. “That’s because, if you look at the Republican rumored retirements, they’re in districts that we can win. So the retirement dynamic disfavors Republicans and favors us.” 

There were eight Republicans who retired from the House during the last Congress. None of those open seats were picked up by Democrats.

Still, Israel said Democrats see prime pick-up opportunities in the 14 districts now held by Republicans that were carried by President Obama in 2008 and Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.) in the 2004 presidential election. 

“If everything goes wrong, I can guarantee we’ll take eight back,” he said. 

Israel also noted the 47 districts that voted for Obama in 2008 that are held by the GOP.

“If everything goes wrong, we get 18 of those 47 and Republicans get 29,” he said. 

If Israel’s prediction is correct, his party would pick up 26 seats — two more than it needs to retake the majority. But the DCCC chairman again refused to guarantee that his party would win back the House, noting there are still vulnerable Democratic members who might lose. 

“I can’t tell you we’re going to get 26, I can’t tell you we’re going to get 24. It’s going to be razor close, razor close,” he said. “The House will be in play.”

Israel said he was factoring redistricting into his calculations. “Redistricting is not the threat, the huge existential threat that the Republicans made it out to be,” he said. “It’s going to be very close to a net zero. Maybe they’ll pick up a couple seats, maybe we’ll pick up a couple seats.”

—Updated at 12:51 p.m.