Quote (thundercock @ 18 Dec 2020 02:53)
I don't think attacks on Pelosi are really effective at all....my point is that Republicans are going to attack the Dem leader and Democrats are going to attack the GOP leader. No one says, "I love Democrat policies but I dislike Pelosi so I'm going to vote Republican."
Actually, with reversed roles, that's exactly what a lot of voters of the NeverTrump sort were saying: "I like Republican policies/dislike Democratic policies, but I dislike Trump (and the 'trumpified' GOP) so much that I'm gonna vote Democratic."
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Now, you could argue that she has an effect on turnout for both parties but the Presidential candidates generate much more enthusiasm/disdain. We've had some really powerful speakers historically (i.e. Gingrich and Pelosi) but was Paul Ryan ever the "face" of the GOP? What about Hastert? Boehner? IMO, the Speaker isn't really the public face of a party. In the case of the Democrats, Biden is the face of the party.
The president is obviously the face of his party, but for the out-party, its highest ranking member in Congress fills this role until the next presidential nominee is chosen. Between 2017 and late 2019, when the primary field had come down to Bernie and Biden, it was indeed Pelosi who was the public face of the Democrats. Similarly, McConnell will be the face of the GOP for the next 3 years, unless Trump pulls off a historically super unusual "permanent campaign".
When it comes to Biden, the situation is a bit unusual as well. Once he's sworn in, he'll be the face of the party. Normally, he would already have been throughout campaign season, but since he ran a ghost campaign, he was not a very dominant figure and basically just another supporting character for the Trump show.