Pelosi In The House

An Outside-The-Box House Speakership
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The recent threat to Nancy Pelosi's return as House Speaker presents an opportunity.  Rather than fret over dissension among its members, Democrats could embrace the chance to shake things up, and in the process, engage voters.

1.  Make leadership a 'team', rather than a hierarchy.

2.  Those who vote for the team can then legitimately claim they didn't vote for Pelosi (alone).

3.  Embrace the chance to excite new, idealistic voters.

4.  Appoint several young, tech-savvy members to be a fourth team member.

5.  Make room for one more team player: members tasked with organizing a policy clearinghouse.

The Details:

1.  A 5-member team that voted as equal members (in executive session) on party direction:
   * Pelosi, nominally Speaker
   * Hoyer, Majority Leader
   * Clyburn, Party Whip
   * Party Outreach (3 young, tech-savvy members)
   * New Legislation Panel (3 up-and-coming leaders)

2.  Though a bit of a stretch, the new 5-member executive can be seen as 'not voting for Pelosi'.

3.  The recent midterm election brought out voters wanting a say in their country's direction.  Not connecting with this opportunity would be a missed opportunity.

4.  Social media allow members to connect with constituents, and to harvest and tabulate opinion.  Voters, as a result, feel they're participating.

5.  Having a 'new legislation' panel is the counterpart to #4's Outreach.  Opinion is gathered, and used to propel new legislation.  The circle is complete when new ideas are solicited, and then presented to voters to opine on.

The three members in the Outreach (#4) and New Legislation (#5) panels would each vote among themselves on matters before reporting their decision with the 5-member executive.

Those who've been reading this blog for a while will recognize where these ideas are heading: a House of Representatives that posts online videos presenting legislative alternatives for constituents to consider.  I describe the idea behind these videos that voters watch, then 'vote' on (yes, on-line, because the interaction is 2-way--like a credit card transaction--rather than a 1-way secret ballot) in greater detail here.

My point in all this, aside from advocating for social media outreach, is that an outside-the-box approach might not only get Speaker Pelosi to the 218 votes she needs, but could also transform the House into a cutting-edge democratic institution and keep alive the participatory enthusiasm represented by the record voter turnout in 2018.