DNC: Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi talks war on women

Via BlogHer.com

I’m at the Democratic National Convention all week long and yesterday was included in a reporters round table with House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA).  Leader Pelosi spoke passionately about why the president should be re-elected saying, “I’ve issued a D.A.R.E.,” which stands for Disclose, Amend (the Constitution to overturn Citizens United), Reform the system (leading to public financing of campaigns), and Elect reformers (in a bipartisan way)…We have to take back our democracy from the plutocracy.”

When commenting on the idea that many Americans don’t feel better off than they were four years ago as the Romney campaign alleges, Pelosi said,

“Our country is better off.  [President Obama] pulled us back from the brink of depression…We’ve had more private sector job growth in one year of the Obama presidency than in the entire eight years of the Bush administration.”  So while it’s a difficult case to make when many Americans are still struggling, “it could have been worse,” Pelosi added.

Asked about whether women’s issues are economic issues, Pelosi noted that Lily Ledbetter the very first piece of legislation the president signed after being elected, the Violence Against Women Act, Paycheck Fairness which was passed by the House but not by the Senate as well as the simple idea that women should be able to determine the size and time of their families are absolutely economic issues in the eyes of the Democratic party.

“Women determine the size and timing of our family, the impact it has on their own empowerment, their education and training, their ability to succeed in the workplace,” Pelosi said.

Pelosi is excited about the Democrats chances of retaking the House in November noting the strength of the Democratic platform in key areas such as marriage equality and abortion, in contrast to the extremely anti-woman Republican platform approved last week in Tampa.

Pelosi said she wants to go “mano a mano” with Republicans with a focus on the “insistence on the truth” which has been eluding Team Romney throughout the campaign.