Oh good. They won't do any better with her.

By DAVID ESPO : AP Special Correspondent Nov 8, 2002 : 2:13 pm ET

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Rep. Nancy Pelosi of California secured victory in the race for House Democratic leader on Friday when her only formal rival conceded defeat and offered an endorsement.

Pelosi, 62, a liberal who represents San Francisco in Congress, will become the first woman to lead either party in either House of Congress when she is formally elected next week to replace Rep. Richard Gephardt.

Pelosi triumphed over Texas Rep. Martin Frost, who conceded defeat in a letter to members of the rank and file. "It is clear to me that Nancy Pelosi has the votes of a majority of the caucus," he wrote. "In light of this fact, today I am releasing all of my commitments."

Pelosi will take the helm of a party that has been in the minority for eight years and lost seats in Tuesday's midterm election.

Frost made his concession as Tennessee Rep. Harold Ford announced last-minute plans to join the race -- then postponed a news conference where he was to do so.

Pelosi and Frost had been making calls to members of the rank and file in anticipation of next Thursday's election. On Thursday. Frost told a news conference he was the contender better able to broaden the party's appeal. "I think her politics are to the left, and I think that the party, to be successful, must speak to the broad center of the country," he said.

Pelosi responded with a statement that stressed the importance of challenging Republicans.

While House Democrats had a brief race for leader, there was none on the other side of the Capitol. There, Sen., Tom Daschle of South Dakota told reporters he would seek another two years as leader. He said that Connecticut Sen. Christopher Dodd, rumored to be considering a challenge, would not run.

"We intend to work closely with the president when we think he's right, but I must say, we will stand up and fight for our principles when we think he's wrong," said Daschle, whose party was thrust into the minority in Tuesday's elections.

The loss in the House wasn't as painful -- the party was in the minority to begin with, and fell deeper into a hole when it lost five or six seats.

Ford, appearing on the nationally syndicated Don Imus morning radio show, said he was joining the race because "there's a real yearning and a real appetite for change in the party."

"I think my colleagues on the Democratic side are interested in radical change and, if they are, I submit that my candidacy and my leadership would offer that change," Ford said. "It would be not only me, but a whole new generation of leadership."

Ford is 32. Pelosi is 62 and Frost 60.

Earlier, Frost had taken on Pelosi.

"I think that her politics are to the left, and I think that the party, to be successful, must speak to the broad center of the country," said Frost, a Texan whose rival represents most of San Francisco.

Pelosi, judged by party officials to be the front-runner in the race, sidestepped the attack and turned her fire on the GOP instead. "We must draw clear distinctions between our vision of the future and the extreme policies put forward by the Republicans," she said in a statement. "We cannot allow Republicans to pretend they share our values and then legislate against those values without consequence."

In the interview, Ford said he thought that both Frost and Pelosi "represent much of what we've had in the past."

" ... If we're serious about moving forward, a team that I would assemble could accomplish a lot," the congressman said, adding that "it might be time for a clean break from the ways of the past."

Frost and Pelosi had begun their bids to become the party's House leader after Gephardt told members of the rank-and-file that he would not seek another term in the job he has held for eight years.

Gephardt told party members Thursday that "it's time for me personally to take a different direction ... and take on this president and the Republican Party from a different vantage point." His remarks pointed toward a possible campaign for the White House in 2004.

Later, in an interview in the Capitol office he soon will vacate, the Missouri Democrat said he intends to take the oath of office for a new term next month and has no firm plans beyond that. "I'll look at running for president. I've done it before and I know a lot about it," he said of his unsuccessful 1988 campaign for the Democratic nomination.

While Pelosi and Frost have served side by side for years, they have charted different courses in the House, and have taken different positions on recent high-profile issues.

Pelosi, who is her party's senior member on the intelligence committee, voted against legislation that authorized President Bush to use force against Saddam Hussein in Iraq. Frost supported it.

Frost, a former party campaign chairman, was a late, reluctant recruit to the battle for legislation to reduce the role of money in politics, expressing concern about the impact of the law on the party's ability to compete for funds with Republicans. One of Pelosi's first successes as party whip was to round up enough votes to pass the measure.

Frost was elected from his Dallas-area district for a 13th term on Tuesday.

-- Anonymous, November 09, 2002