Pelosi Wins Speakership, Times Rubs It In

John Broder: "[Republican leader John] Boehner sat glum and unmoving in his seat for much of the hour it took to record the vote that put Mrs. Pelosi in the speaker's chair."

Thursday marked the beginning of Democratic control of congress, and the resulting ascension of Rep. Nancy Pelosi to the position of Speaker of the House. Reporter John Broder was impressed in his lead story, "Making History, Pelosi Rises to Speaker."


"Representative Nancy Pelosi of California took the speaker's gavel at 2:08 p.m. from Representative John A. Boehner of Ohio, the Republican leader, whom she defeated by a vote of 233 to 202, the 31-seat margin of the new Democratic majority. The floor and the packed galleries erupted in cheers when the vote was announced.


"Even Republicans grudgingly acknowledged the unprecedented nature of the day on which a woman ascended to power on Capitol Hill by rising as one to applaud her."


Early indications suggest the Times is planning to rub the Democratic victory into the faces of the GOP. Check out this bit of color: "[Republican leader John] Boehner sat glum and unmoving in his seat for much of the hour it took to record the vote that put Mrs. Pelosi in the speaker's chair. The former speaker, J. Dennis Hastert, now just a Republican member of Congress from Illinois, stood hunched and hulking by the back rail of the chamber."