Pelosi said she's 'not encouraging anyone' to go to Charlotte. Pelosi: Dems should skip convention

House minority leader Nancy Pelosi says Democratic members should stay home and campaign in their districts rather than go to the party’s national convention in North Carolina.

“I’m not encouraging anyone to go to the convention, having nothing to do with anything except I think they should stay home, campaign in their districts, use their financial and political resources to help them win their election,” Pelosi said in an exclusive interview for POLITICO Live’s “On Congress,” a new weekly show to be streamed live on POLITICO’s website and broadcast on NewsChannel 8 on Wednesdays.


( Also on POLTICO: Pelosi scolds Romney on taxes)

The California Democrat suggested that since Barack Obama is an incumbent, there is less of a need for Democrats to attend the convention.

“We nominated a president last time. We have an incumbent president of the United States. We’re very proud of him. There certainly will be enough people there to express that pride, but I’m not encouraging members to go to the convention no matter what the situation was, because they can be home. It’s campaign time. It’s the first week in September,” she said.

In addition, Pelosi also wouldn’t commit to serving in the leadership of the 113th Congress.

“I wouldn’t assume anything,” she told POLITICO editor-in-chief John Harris and reporter Lois Romano. “I would just assume that Democrats would win and we would stop the obstruction of the president’s agenda. I think it’s fair to say that most people don’t have the faintest idea about leadership races in the Congress.”

Indeed, Pelosi tried to downplay her importance, even as Harris asked whether voters could fairly ask what leadership team they were voting for if they were considering a Democratic candidate.

“I think it’s probably the least important aspect of everything that we have spoken about,” Pelosi said. “I’m flattered that you think so much attention should be focused on me. … My service here, or my role in leadership here really relates to issues, and the health care issue is a very big issue for me now that the Supreme Court has acted. I feel very comfortable about what was done there.”

Pelosi also criticized Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney for not releasing more years of his tax returns — “the American people seem to want to know,” she said.

“His father set the standard for transparency. … This is a tradition that he is breaking not only personal in his family but for candidates for president of the United States. You want to run for president, the ante is upped,” Pelosi told POLITICO Live.

But when asked whether she would release her own tax returns to make it clear that Democrats are more transparent, the minority leader simply said, “When I run for president, I will.”