This Is Just Sad
By 
#13WhiteGuys
NEW: Anti-Pelosi letter just dropped – 16 Democrats (not 17 as previously reported) have signed on pic.twitter.com/3jq4WtgSwA
— Elaina Plott (@elainaplott) November 19, 2018
One obvious point about this ridiculous movement is that it’s not only from the declining right of the party, it’s based (at least in terms of its public justifications) almost solely on electoral arguments that have just been rendered inoperative:
Hot take: The biggest problem for the Dump Pelosi faction is that they argued Pelosi would cost them the midterms, and instead the party won 38 seats. They're like Jor-El if Krypton hadn't exploded.
— Dave Weigel (@daveweigel) November 19, 2018
Both caucuses – GOP and Democrats – have an election for a leader who they put forward as a candidate for Speaker. Pelosi doesn’t even have a challenger yet in the caucus election. It’s almost certain she would overwhelmingly defeat any challenger, probably by at least a 3:1 margin.
That’s not what any of this is about.
These sixteen reps are saying that regardless of who the caucus chooses for Speaker, they’ll vote against that person. So if Pelosi wins the vote in the Democratic caucus and is then presented as the candidate for the Democrats vs Kevin McCarthy for the Republicans those 16 either won’t vote or will vote for McCarthy or most likely vote for some symbolic candidate.
This is the whole caucus of more than 230 reps being dictated to by 16 members, who won’t accept the results of the Democrats leadership election.
As Erik says, this microfaction is the federal equivalent of the IDC, not an attempt to move the party forward. Fortunately, unlike the IDC it will be crushed like a flabby grape before it can even get off the ground.