Democrats in Chaos Over Nancy Pelosi Power

It's all about power. The leadership of the Democratic caucus --- foremost Speaker Nancy Pelosi --- cares not one wit about party fortunes leading into 2012. Especially Pelosi, but Steny Hoyer and James Clyburn as well, want power for power's sake. Think of the sports analogy: In sports, when a championship puts in a middling season after taking the title, the head coach is usually the first to go. The fans want heads to roll. Perhaps it's Pelosi's breaking of the "marble ceiling," but this lady should be out on her ass. Both parties vote today, but check out the background on the Democratic caucus at Politico:

The Democratic old guard will try to hold the line Wednesday against a rank-and-file rebellion intent on winning some concession — no matter how small — from a leadership team seeking reelection despite having presided over the loss of at least 60 Democratic seats earlier this month.

The leadership election follows on the heels of a brutally long, contentious and divisive leadership meeting Tuesday, and it will determine not only whether Speaker Nancy Pelosi remains the head of the House Democratic contingent but just how much authority she will wield in the new Congress come January.

Pelosi is in no real danger of losing her job as leader of the Democratic Caucus, but she is being challenged by a diffuse set of critics, dozens of whom believe she should step aside after her party’s defeat, others who hope to strip her power to appoint loyalists to positions of influence within the caucus and still others who simply want more time to reflect on whether endorsing the same set of leaders is the best course of action for a defeated minority.

The Democratic fissures were laid bare Tuesday as various factions engaged in open warfare with one another, both in private discussions among lawmakers and in behind-the-scenes efforts to influence the outcome of the leadership elections and related votes on how to choose the party leader’s top lieutenants.

Pelosi and the old power brokers who led Democrats back into the majority four years ago are not conceding that they might be culpable in the party’s downfall.

Behind closed doors, Pelosi argued to her troops Tuesday that she was demonized in Republican campaign ads precisely because she is the party’s political rainmaker.

“I know some of you suffered because of ads targeted to me,” she said, according to several sources in the room. “They had to take down the person who brings the resources.”

Her allies contend that she is the only one with the strategic skills, the vision, the touch with donors and the political muscle to lead the party back to the majority.

That's genuinely sad.

RELATED: "Why Democrats Don't Dump Nancy Pelosi."