'A whole lot of carrot': Pelosi keeps young and restless caucus on the same page

[Eugene]

Source: Washington Post

‘A whole lot of carrot’: Pelosi keeps young and restless caucus on the same page

By Mike DeBonis February 1 at 3:43 PM

As House Speaker Nancy Pelosi waged her high-profile shutdown standoff with President Trump, she was working behind the scenes on an even more delicate task — keeping her big, restless and inexperienced caucus on the same page.

During her first month leading the new Democratic majority, Pelosi (D-Calif.) has doled out a record number of subcommittee gavels to new members, while encouraging others to take leading roles on the political front lines. Meanwhile, she firmed up support among old stalwarts with choice committee assignments while moving quickly to calm jittery freshmen.

Together, according to interviews with more than a dozen Democratic lawmakers and aides, the fight to end the 35-day government shutdown and a meticulous effort to distribute power among the party’s various ideological and generational factions has kept internal peace for the time being as Democrats eye the rest of their governing agenda.

“She fundamentally believes new people enrich democracy and bring new ideas, but she also values people’s experience here,” Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.) said of Pelosi. “I think that it’s a very delicate balance.”

What has so far emerged is a mutual respect between party factions that has belied predictions of the kind of ideological strife that bedeviled Republicans during their previous eight-year House majority.

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Read more: https://www.washingtonpost.com/powerpost/a-whole-lot-of-carrot-pelosi-keeps-young-and-restless-caucus-on-the-same-page/2019/02/01/599cc102-2568-11e9-90cd-dedb0c92dc17_story.html

[LisaM]

1. Exactly how it should be! Experience matters.

As do new blood and enthusiasm. They aren't enemies of each other, much as some people want them to be.