The Democrats actually lost four seats in the House in that 2002 election. I kept my seat, but we were worse off than before. Dick Gephardt decided not to run again for Minority Leader (and later not to run again for his seat), so we elevated Minority Whip Nancy Pelosi, making her the first woman to ever lead a major party in Congress. Nancy was a strong, smart San Francisco liberal with a unique emotional presence not usually found at the highest levels of Washington—I hesitate to use the term “maternal” because she was that but so much more.
