Rep. Seth Moulton, D-Mass., who supported Ryan in the leadership elections, also said it was time for a change at the top, and that this loss - where Democrats poured in tens of millions of dollars only to do worse than Clinton did in the district - "better be a wake up call".
Handel's tough race, combined with closer-than-usual GOP House victories in Kansas, Montana and SC, suggests Trump will dominate the coming election cycle, forcing Republicans to make peace with him, for better or worse. Democrats spent $32 million in that race.
The latest loss came Tuesday night when John Ossoff lost to Republican Karen Handel by four points in Georgia. They argue it shows their chances are good of retaking control of the House in next year's midterm elections.
House Democratic leaders are taking some comfort in coming in a close second for a seat that's always been firmly in GOP hands.
"It makes it a heck of a lot harder", said Rep. Tim Ryan, D-Ohio, who unsuccessfully challenged Pelosi in a leadership election last fall.
Clearly feeling comfortable again surrounded by thousands of supporters in a GOP-friendly state, the president ticked off what he views as a list of accomplishments. After she was re-elected Democratic leader, the Republican National Committee unfurled a banner that read "Hire Pelosi" outside its headquarters.
Pelosi allies have pushed back at the blame game, and pointed to the improvement Democrats had in other special elections in Kansas, Montana and SC as evidence that their efforts to harness the resistance against Trump was working. "And I'm not sure that that's there yet". "But this is something we certainly have to discuss, because it's clear that I think across the board in the Democratic Party, we need new leadership".
She also noted last week's shooting of Republican Majority Whip Steve Scalise of Louisiana and said politics has become too embittered. Debbie Dingell of MI. "Democrats from coast to coast threw everything they had at this race, and Karen would not be defeated", House Speaker Paul Ryan said in a statement.
Isis blows up iconic mosque where they first declared a 'caliphate'
The mosque sat on the southern edge of the Old City, the last IS stronghold inside Mosul . Iraqi forces said earlier on Wednesday that they had started a push towards the mosque.
Ossoff ran a careful campaign and shied away from talking about Trump, and some groups on the left wasted no time in insisting that Democrats must draw brighter contrasts with the GOP. "We are the party that stands up for working families and the middle class, yet many of them are not voting for us". Rep. Joe Crowley of NY, chairman of the House Democratic Caucus, said that there are 71 districts that will be more favourable for Democrats to contest than the one in Georgia.
And Rep. Steny Hoyer of Maryland, the No. 2 House Democrat, remarked that "we had no business winning those districts" due to their GOP allegiance.
Handel, who has previously fallen short in primaries for governor and senator, is the first Republican woman to be elected to the U.S. Congress from Georgia.
"The president's numbers are in the thirties and our base is energized", she wrote. "We need a genuinely new message, a serious jobs plan that reaches all Americans and a bigger tent, not a smaller one".
Many rank-and-file Democrats were not having it.
But prescriptions for how the Democrats should move forward varied.
The Democratic Party backing first-time candidate Ossoff, as well as the media, portrayed the election as a national referendum on President Trump and his policies.
One thing most everyone could agree on: Coming in second doesn't cut it now and wouldn't be an outcome to celebrate next November.
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