I think that still holds true, and maybe it’s more evident now. It is striking how much she’s been able to hold her caucus together. There was a big push from a lot of Democrats in the House for impeachment during the Mueller report and she was the one putting the brakes on that. Contrast that with Republicans when they took power in 2010 — that was a really contentious period for the caucus and [then house speaker] John Boehner had a lot of trouble keeping them together because of the burgeoning Tea Party movement.

Right. Initially there were also Democrats who said they wouldn’t vote for Pelosi to become Speaker of the House. How do you think she managed to transform into the popular face of the party?

She’s the ultimate insider, right? She’s been in Congress a long time. She’s an expert on how the rules work and how things actually get done. She’s known for twisting arms when she needs them. She rewards the people who have been loyal, and she has taken action against those who have voted against her.

But not only is Pelosi really powerful politically, she’s also become this powerful symbol for the party. We are in this moment of intense female energy and that’s the message that the party has really been leaning into.

And it’s not just who’s running and winning races — it’s the infrastructure of who is getting those women to victory. Out on the campaign trail, the number of women who were relatively uninvolved in politics and are now political activists is striking. Women really are powering the Democratic party.

And Pelosi totally understands the power of that image, too, right?

That jacket!

Exactly — she dresses for the occasion and wields those striking moments to her advantage.

Right. I think she’s also a kind of foil that Democrats really want to see up against Trump because there was such a strong gender component to his victory — not only because he was running against the first female party nominee but also because of the things he’s said about women in the past. So I think there’s an appeal to have this strong female adversary against him.