Pelosi: I Don't Cry Over Politics (Unlike Boehner)

Speaker defends her communication skills
By Polly Davis Doig,  Newser Staff
Posted Nov 20, 2010 12:11 PM CST
Pelosi: I Don't Cry Over Politics (Unlike Boehner)
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and House Speaker-in-waiting John Boehner.   (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

Outgoing House speaker Nancy Pelosi takes questions (and some parting shots) in the New York Times Magazine. Asked about successor John Boehner's tearful election night speech, she said he's "known to cry," even during House debates. Pelosi contends that, "If I cry, it's about the personal loss of a friend," not politics, because "if you’re professional, then you deal with it professionally." She later adds, "If I were to cry for anything, I would cry for (the American people) and the policies that they’re about to face." Other highlights:

  • On being a woman in politics: "When I became the speaker ... It was a victorious thing—I was the first woman speaker. It didn’t get that much play. And I’m not a publicity seeker, so it was OK. Boehner, before the election, they had him on the cover of Newsweek. Now he’s on the cover of Time, and women are coming to me and saying, 'Is the job less important when a woman holds it?'"
  • On throwing out a first pitch at a Giants game: "Let me say that one of the things as a politician I do not wish to do is to get attention at a sports event."
Full column here.
(More Nancy Pelosi stories.)

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