House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi’s determination to cling to political life is beginning to weigh heavily on the Democratic House caucus.

Democrats suffered two losses last week in special elections for vacancies created by President Donald Trump’s cabinet picks. The pair of losses put the party at zero for four in the Trump era. The opportunity was considered especially ripe for Democrats in the 6th Congressional District of Georgia, which Tom Price left to become Health and Human Services secretary. The party hoped a win there would showcase its new strength as an opposition force.

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The district, once held by former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, gave Trump a slim 1.5 percent margin of victory where Republican Mitt Romney won by almost 25 points in 2012.

Democrats salivated. The suburban Atlanta district has a college-graduation rate of more than 50 percent, and more than 11 percent of voters are Hispanic. Trump and the GOP nominee, Karen Handel, were doomed, they thought.

More than $30 million flowed into coffers for Democratic nominee Jon Ossoff. It all looked familiar for the Democrats’ leader in the lower chamber: Pelosi was good at whipping up both the internet and longtime donors for cash. She is one of the most successful party leaders for fundraising, drumming up almost $570 million for House Democrats since 2002.

But then Ossoff lost, and not by the razor-thin margin pundits had predicted. Handel won handily, by almost 4 percent, or about 10,000 votes. Instead of Trump becoming a boogeyman in the race, Pelosi found herself the subject of GOP attack ads linking Ossoff to a Democratic congressional agenda seen increasingly, by voters in the heartland, as too liberal.

Gone are the days of 2006, when Pelosi helped boot the Republicans out of a House majority for the first time since 1994. Gone are the days that Pelosi basked in the warm glow of the media, hailed as the first female House speaker and the person who helped pass Obamacare.

Instead, each election cycle looks more and more like 2010, when Pelosi was ably vilified by Republican candidates. The GOP took back the House that year, and despite Pelosi’s scheming to reclaim it in 2012, 2014 and 2016, she has remained a deeply unpopular figure outside of the Left.

Now House Democrats are weighing a change. Rank-and-file members have muttered about the 30-year incumbent, who is now 77 and whose weekly press conferences are still marked by the sometimes strident lecturing and finger-wagging made famous during the years she tormented President George W. Bush.

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What’s more, Pelosi’s party also lacks a message. While the California Democrat is pushing back against whispers that her time as minority leader is concluding, change at the top is likely necessary to rebuild the Democratic Party, if the past is any guide.

History is full of recent examples where a high-level purge strengthened the party.

Newt Gingrich
Gingrich was a Republican hero during the 1980s, when he angered House Democrats as he rose through the ranks and challenged liberalism on C-Span. Then Gingrich pushed aside House Minority Leader Bob Michel (R-Ill.) and gambled on taking back the House in 1994. His party did, the first time the GOP had won the House since 1952.

But Gingrich had trouble leading the conference. Known for his outspoken style, which infuriated liberals, Gingrich disappointed the GOP House rebels, who actually grew discontent that not enough changes were being made. A House attempt at overthrowing Gingrich in 1997 failed.

But after the House GOP lost seats in the 1998 midterms — an election in which Republicans were hoping they’d see strong gains — Gingrich resigned his seat and leadership in 1999.

The House GOP then won majorities in 2000, 2002 and 2004 — but fell to minority status in 2006 and 2008.

 Canadian Liberals
The Canadian Liberal Party once looked much like the House Democrats do today.

They were unable to make gains against a popular conservative leader, Prime Minister Stephen Harper of the Conservative Party, after he was elected Canada’s leader in 2006.

After bad showings that led to Harper’s re-elections in 2008 and 2011, Liberals pleaded with Trudeau, the young son of former Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau, also a Liberal.

At times, the Conservatives had trouble taking Justin Trudeau seriously as the 2015 election approached. Trudeau had been an underemployed underachiever: he was once a snowboard instructor.

But Trudeau had learned the ropes after two years as the Liberals’ leader. The Liberal Party finally vanquished Harper in October 2015, picking up 148 seats to lead a majority in Ottawa. (go to page 2 to continue reading)[lz_pagination]