Why it would be tough for Dems to quit Nancy Pelosi

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi speaks about the recent attack on the Republican Congressional Baseball team during her weekly press conference on Capitol Hill in Washington, U.S., June 15, 2017.

Democrats invested millions in the costliest House race, but Republican Karen Handel beat Jon Ossoff on Tuesday.

Rice's criticisms have been joined by a couple other Democrats. But Democrats don't necessarily need her or anyone to play the role of a former occupant of the seat Handel just won, Newt Gingrich, who led the Republican takeover of the House in 1994 with his Contract for America. Republicans - including President Donald Trump - have professed their glee that she's still minority leader.

Pelosi isn't in danger of losing the leadership perch she has long held, though she did fend off her toughest challenge ever last fall from Rep. Tim Ryan, D-Ohio, who argued the party needed someone who better understood the rural, working-class voters that were critical to President Trump's victory over Hillary Clinton. She has the "overwhelming support" of her caucus, she said.

President Donald Trump is lashing out at top Democrats on Twitter. "That would be very bad for the Republican Party - and please let Cryin' Chuck stay!" he tweeted.

While Rice acknowledged the credit Pelosi has been given by her colleagues for being a great fundraiser, Rice noted that the money hasn't helped Democrats win elections.

A defiant Nancy Pelosi made it clear she's not going anywhere, brushing off critics from her own party saying "I think I'm worth the trouble".

Democrats are still reeling from Hillary Clinton's loss in the presidential election a year ago, and this week Democrat Jon Ossoff lost in Georgia's special election to replace former Rep. Tom Price - who is now secretary of Health and Human Services. When it comes to her detractors, Pelosi said "my decision about how long I stay is not up to them".

Neera Tanden, the head of the progressive think tank Center for American Progress, tweeted that Democrats needed to hit back much harder.

He said the Democratic Party, however, isn't self-aware enough to realize that they'll always have an uphill battle if she's the face of the party. "So, we are paving a way for a new generation of leadership".

"I don't know if there is a solution in the short term", Ryan said. Rice, like all the rest of the Democrats, would like to get the party back in the House majority.

In Georgia, the Augusta Chronicle endorsed a Republican congressional candidate in the 2006 race, warning a Democratic House would mean "Pelosi will be speaker and her far-left San Francisco values - gay marriage, cutting and running from Iraq, coddling terrorists, raising taxes, amnesty for illegals - will become the House agenda". "We have a lot of talent in the Democratic Party", but she pointed out that "we don't have an infrastructure in our caucus allowing more voices to be heard, and that's the problem".