"We didn’t lose the election because of me. In any circumstance when you have nine-and-half percent unemployment, any party that cannot turn that into political gain should hang up the gloves. … The reason they had to try to take me down is because I’ve been effective in fighting the special interests in Washington, D.C. I’m also the most significant attractor of support for the Democrats. So I’m not looking back on this. They asked me to run. I’m running."

Nancy Pelosi on her controversial choice to seek the minority leader position in the House, in Friday’s Wall Street Journal.

She’s right on the mark here. Republicans simply were going to make significant gains this November. Pelosi’s House was extremely effective at passing major policy, most of which ended up stalled in the Senate. Remember that the House version of the health care reform bill included a public option, and had stronger subsidies and regulations of the insurance industry. The House passed a comprehensive climate change bill and strong bills on food safety, and a bill which would have “[boosted] safety standards for offshore drilling and remove a liability cap for oil spills”, according the Associated Press. All stalled in the Senate.

Pelosi was a strong Speaker, and she should stick around. The real problem is in the Senate, where gridlock may or may not be completely out of control of the majority leader. Either way, Pelosi isn’t to blame for November’s crushing electoral defeats.