California’s “Eternal Orator” Pelosi bowed out at 85

from Juliet WilliamsCalMatters

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Her name won’t appear on any California ballots this year, but House Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi was the star of the state’s Democratic convention over the weekend in San Francisco.

The 85-year-old received perhaps the biggest organic ovation of the weekend on Saturday morning when she arrived at the convention in her signature high heels. That evening, a California Democrat honored her at a farewell dinner, calling her fearless, loyal and an eternal fighter who stood up to world leaders.

“You talk about an Iron Lady – Margaret Thatcher has nothing against Nancy Pelosi,” said US Senator Adam Schiff, recalling how she appeared at his 2024 event just a week after breaking her hip in Luxembourg.

Pelosi announced earlier this year that she will not run for re-election to her seat in San Francisco, 39 years after she was first elected to Congress. But she rallied delegates all weekend to fight for Democrats to take back the House in this fall’s contested midterm elections, repeatedly offering her mantra: “We don’t agonize, we organize. We unite.”

Dubbed the party’s “perpetual spokesperson,” Pelosi’s image appeared on each of the 3,500 bags handed out to delegates, a rainbow of Pelosi from different eras in her trademark pantsuits and heels. As the nation’s first female speaker, Pelosi was a role model for generations of women, and as a speaker she was known as a performer, a title Schiff said was well-deserved.

Delegates celebrated her legislative accomplishments, including passage of the Affordable Care Act and President Joe Biden’s infrastructure and climate agenda, along with her unwavering support for women, LGBTQ rights and the environment. Many credited her political power for the help pass Proposition 50 last year, which redrawn California’s congressional maps in favor of Democrats. She was also a deciding vote persuading Biden drop out of the 2024 presidential race.

When she took the stage again Saturday night in a more intimate setting, Pelosi tore up her prepared speech — a throwback to the time she tore up a copy of President Donald Trump’s State of the Union address on live television. She thanked her friends and allies, saying she was proud to represent San Francisco’s values ​​to the nation, a move that made her a favorite punching bag of conservatives.

“We have a challenge of conscience in our country right now,” Pelosi said Saturday night, pointing to her bracelets emblazoned with the words “faith,” “hope,” “love” and “believe.” “And I really believe in the goodness of the American people.

This article was originally published on CalMatters and is republished under Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-No Derivatives license.