RALEIGH—As I write this column in February 2007, the GOP in Washington is struggling to adjust to what its role is as the minority in the House.

Reality is slowing sinking in that after 12 years in the driver’s seat in the House, Republicans are no longer in power.

The role of the loyal opposition is foreign to the leadership of the GOP, as well as the “rank and file” of the caucus.

Many pundits, political strategists, and GOP members of Congress think that (San Francisco liberal) Speaker Nancy Pelosi will self-destruct and that her downfall will be the key to regaining the majority in the House.

That, in my opinion, is a weak case to rely on.

First and foremost, Pelosi in her first month as speaker has been disciplined. One only need look at her website to see that Pelosi pushed through the Democrats 100-hour legislative agenda, which included implementing the Sept. 11 recommendations, increasing the minimum wage, expanded stem-cell research, allowed negotiations for lower prescription drug costs, cut interest rates on student loans, ended subsidies for big oil companies, and invested in renewable energy.

Now, while as a conservative, I am not endorsing that agenda, it does show action and the perception that Democrats are getting something done.
Pelosi also comes from a family of astute politicians.

She grew up in politics. Her father, Thomas D’Alesandro, Jr., was mayor of Baltimore for 12 years, after representing the city for five terms in Congress. Her brother, Thomas D’Alesandro III, also was mayor of Baltimore.

In addition, her second in command of the Democratic caucus, Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, is longtime veteran of Democratic politics, having been elected to the Maryland Senate at the age of 27 and who is now beginning his 14th term in Congress.

Hoyer understands how to count votes and to exercise power. He also comes across in the media as reasonable and well-versed. He is not likely to be caught off guard or to make a political miscue.

Despite the promise of bipartisanship by Pelosi and Hoyer, Republicans in the House have been relegated to the sidelines—left only to complain that they are being left out of the process. Republican resolutions and amendments are shut down on the floor by Hoyer and the Democrat whip operation.

Pelosi and Hoyer are exercising power no differently then the way former Speaker Dennis Hastert did when the GOP was in the majority.

Early in February, the Republican Study Committee, a group of 48 conservatives in the House, met in Baltimore for their annual retreat.

According to press reports of the meeting, conservatives expressed their disappointment that their leaders have no strategy to win back in 2008 the majority they lost last November. It was reported that former Speaker Newt Gingrich, who was one of the invited guests, counseled the group of conservatives that they have to act independently of the White House.

“You do not serve the president, you serve with the president,” Gingrich said, according to those who attended the dinner, which was closed to the press. Gingrich warned that the Republican conference moves too slowly and that the RSC should be outmaneuvering the conference. He also was reported to have said that the Republicans should neither blame nor support President Bush on issues that divide the Republicans from their base.

Many forget that Gingrich was once a “back-bencher” frustrated with a Democrat majority in the House and Republican leadership that was far too comfortable with minority status. Only the bold leadership of Gingrich’s Contract with America led us out of the wilderness in 1994.

Bold and innovative leadership by the loyal opposition is required now. Counting on the Democrats to self-destruct is not a strategy for success.

Marc Rotterman is a conservative activist and a senior fellow of the John Locke Foundation.