Could Pelosi pose a threat to other House Dems?

The NRCC is going after vulnerable House Democrats by using their leader against them

Published May 28, 2009 3:50PM (EDT)

The National Republican Congressional Committee is giving vulnerable House Democrats something to worry about every time they think ahead to their reelection campaigns next year: House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.

In an ad released Thursday, the NRCC targets Rep. Frank Kratovil, D-Md., a freshman who won in a solidly Republican district thanks to a conservative challenger who'd taken out a longtime Republican congressman in a primary. Kratovil may be an incumbent now, but he's still got plenty to worry about due to the usual political leanings of his constituents and the fact that Barack Obama's name won't be leading the Democratic ticket in 2010. And there are other members of Congress just like him who will likely have Pelosi hung round their necks soon enough.

The spot goes after Pelosi for her recent comments about briefings she received from the CIA about waterboarding and other interrogation methods used during the Bush administration. Kratovil becomes tied in by extension for having voted against a Republican measure that would have launched an investigation into Pelosi's actions. Though that motion failed in the House, it acheived what's arguably it's real purpose: Getting vulnerable Democrats on the record to set them up for ads like this one.


By Alex Koppelman

Alex Koppelman is a staff writer for Salon.

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