Newsmaker

First US woman House speaker may be toppled

(Agencies)
Updated: 2010-10-30 11:56

US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) holds up a purse made for her at a Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) fundraiser in San Francisco, California, Oct 25, 2010. [Photo/Agencies]

WASHINGTON - Nancy Pelosi became the first woman to lead the US House of Representatives by taking on then-President George W. Bush and his unpopular Iraq war.

Now, four years later, the California Democrat is likely to lose the House speakership because of Congress' inability - and that of Bush's Democratic successor, Barack Obama - to revive the ailing US economy.

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Polls show fewer than one in three Americans approve of Pelosi and Republicans are expected to win back control of the House from Democrats in Tuesday's elections mostly because of anger over the lack of jobs.

That would set the stage for Pelosi - derided by critics as a free-spending liberal and praised by backers as a crusading trailblazer - to surrender the speaker's gavel when a new Congress convenes in January.

It would close a roller-coaster reign as speaker by the former stay-at-home mother of five who did not run for Congress until her mid-40s and then rose to power as a prolific fund-raiser and tough organizer.

"Pelosi is in trouble because of the economy - the anger, fear and loathing," said James Thurber of American University's Center for Congressional and Presidential Studies.

"Historically, she will go down as an important speaker - one revered by the left and hated by the right."

Last December, Pelosi, the highest-ranking woman in US history, was named as a runner-up in Time magazine's annual Person of the Year competition.