(WHAS11) - In the wake of a disastrous mid-term election for Democrats, U.S. Rep. John Yarmuth (D-KY) is calling for House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to step aside as top Democrat in the House and for Maryland Democrat Steny Hoyer to be named House Minority Leader.
"I know that there is some thought that Nancy Pelosi may stay around," Yarmuth said Thursday, "As good a leader as she has been, I don't think she's the right leader to take us forward. I think Steny will be a perfect spokesman for the Democratic party in the House and I would support him."
Yarmuth says Hoyer offers a "sound, moderate approach to problem solving." Hoyer, currently the House Majority Leader, consults with Yarmuth on communications strategies, and the Louisville lawmaker says to "expect more of that" as Democrats take on a new role in a Republican Congress.
"I'm on a couple of Steny's advisory committees," Yarmuth continued, "so I would expect to have a significant role in plotting the direction of the Democratic caucus."
Yarmuth handily defeated Republican Todd Lally on Tuesday to return for a third term in Washington. Lally had tagged Yarmuth as more devoted to the liberal priorities of Pelosi and President Barack Obama than the voters of Kentucky's Third Congressional District.
In his victory speech, Yarmuth railed against the "demonization" of Pelosi and Obama. Unlike many congressional Democrats who distanced themselves from Pelosi and Obama during the campaign, Yarmuth won reelection as an unapologetic defender of the national Democratic agenda. He echoed the arguments he made as in a succession of national television appearances to tout the ambitious legislative agenda of the Democratic Congress.
As Yarmuth begins his third term, he is set to assume an expanded role as an even more prominent spokesman for the national Democratic agenda.
"I think that's probably a probability," Yarmuth said, "And I look forward to that. Again, it's not just an agenda, it's the values and that's what I've been talking about."
In that role, Yarmuth is poised to challenge a fellow Louisville lawmaker. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) has led the opposition to much of the Obama administration's agenda for the last two years.
In a speech before the conservative thinktank The Heritage Foundation on Thursday, a newly emboldened McConnell charted the course for a Republican reversal of the Obama agenda, a reversal McConnell says voters made clear they wanted in the mid-term election.
"Tuesday was a referendum, not a choice," McConnell said, "It was a report card on the administration and anyone who supported its agenda, plain and simple."
"I don't think that was the message at all," Yarmuth countered, "I think the message was, you guys work together and try to solve our problems. And what Mitch indicated today was it's either our way or the highway. That's the way he's been for the last two years and that's not the approach I think the American people would welcome."
Yarmuth says McConnell's stated aim to make Mr. Obama a one term president is "not a formula for cooperation."
"He still is the president," Yarmuth said, "He can veto any bill that he wants to. So what Mitch has basically implied is he wants to see nothing get done the next two years."
In his speech, McConnell addressed his "one-term" comments.
"Over the past week, some have said it was indelicate of me to suggest that our top political priority over the next two years should be to deny President Obama a second term in office," McConnell said, "But the fact is, if our primary legislative goals are to repeal and replace the health spending bill; to end the bailouts; cut spending; and shrink the size and scope of government, the only way to do all these things it is to put someone in the White House who won't veto any of these things."
"It would be foolish to expect that Republicans will be able to completely reverse the damage Democrats have done as long as a Democrat holds the veto pen," McConnell continued.
"I don't see where his approach can give the American people any hope that we can work together," Yarmuth countered.
"What I would hope to do is to focus the actual debate on actual problem solving and trying to get pragmatic approaches to the challenges we face, rather than ideology," Yarmuth said, "That's what I fear most, is that this will turn into an ideological debate which is not what the country needs right now."
Yet, the former publisher of LEO Weekly suggested the possibility of some bipartisan progress. He thinks compromise is possible on an extension of some Bush tax cuts and wants to pass the appropriations bill and a repeal of the "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy in the military.
"I think we will debate individual provisions of the health care bill and maybe agree on some changes and some improvement," Yarmuth said, "but to take the position that they are going to repeal the health care bill, is going to be a waste of the American people's time."
Even after gaining seven seats in the Senate, Republicans are still the minority party and do not appear to have enough votes to override an Obama veto of a health care repeal. McConnell, however, added that "realism should never be confused with capitulation."
"On health care, that means we can - and should - propose and vote on straight repeal, repeatedly," McConnell said, "But we can't expect the president to sign it. So we'll also have to work, in the House, on denying funds for implementation, and, in the Senate, on votes against its most egregious provisions. At the same time, we'll need to continue educating the public about the ill-effects of this bill on individuals young and old, families, and small businesses."
"We're going to have probably an even more polarized discussion over the next couple of years" Yarmuth predicted.
"We're not going to be doing any legislating over the next two years unless something very strange happens."
As Yarmuth takes on a larger role, come January, McConnell will no longer be the nation's top elected Republican. That distinction belongs to Congressman John Boehner -- set to be the Speaker of the House.
