The news outlets that cover Congress obsessively have been reporting that Joseph Crowley, a Democratic representative from Queens, appears perched to succeed Nancy Pelosi as the leader of the House Democrats.

Of course, Ms. Pelosi has no known plans to go anywhere. But many who monitor congressional races closely sense that she might emerge from the midterm elections in a vulnerable position. That is, some Democratic candidates running in swing districts will decide — following Conor Lamb, who recently pulled a big upset in a Republican-leaning district in southwestern Pennsylvania — that they’ll improve their chances of winning by declaring that they will not vote to make her the speaker should their party take back control of the House. If that number turns out to be on the high side, Ms. Pelosi’s ability to corral the necessary 218 votes to clinch the speakership will be called into question, and another Democrat might challenge her.

Mr. Crowley, according to these reports, is getting close to locking down the right to be that Democrat. My own reporting affirms that he’s generally well liked by most Democrats and, as the fourth-ranking Democrat in the House, is adept at the kind of glad-handing that someone in his position needs to do to secure promises of future votes.

Well, good for him — if he has done the work, he has done the work. But aren’t there a couple of things that are strange about this picture?