Another Flop From GOP Productions
Updated at 12:00 p.m. ET on November 21, 2022
In 2006 and 2018, Democrats won control of the U.S. House of Representatives on the way to winning the presidency two years later.
In 1994 and 2010, Republicans won control of the U.S. House of Representatives. They then lost the presidency two years later.
The difference? Discipline.
The leader of the Democratic majority elected in 2006 and 2018 was Nancy Pelosi. She restrained emotions in her caucus. After 2006, many Democrats burned with anger against the Bush administration—some even talked of impeaching George W. Bush over the Iraq War. Speaker Pelosi would not allow it. Her vision was to use control of the House to prepare the way for the impending presidential election so that Democrats could then legislate. The passage of the
