Even before the previous one

House

Speaker Nancy Pelosi made her first appearance at the California Democratic Party convention this weekend. She was an inescapable presence, dangling in cartoon form from the shoulders of the party’s politicians and most committed activists.

The official swag bag is a canvas tote bag

bag

illustrating Pelosi’s instantly meme-able furious clapping during

Than-

President Trump’s State of the Union address was the most colorful tribute to the San Francisco congressman, but it hardly was

the only one alone

. Between an ecstatic ovation for her short Saturday morning speech and the ballroom format

i.e

dinner held in her honor that night, the party’s first face-to-face meeting since 2019 was an unabashed love letter to one of the state’s most prolific politicians.

Pelosi, who sometimes ha

sd

was a polarizing figure, even within her own party, who was an undisputed focus of Democratic state officials

on off

weigh in

the Californias

budding Senate race or loaded questions about Senator Dianne Feinstein’s health.

But at the root of the celebrations was a lingering uncertainty about Pelosi’s

future

plan. the 83

–

year-old, who stepped down from the Democratic House leadership this year, has not announced whether she plans to seek another term or retire from the seat she has held for nearly four decades.

Democrats have diligently sidestepped even a hint of speculation about Pelosi’s decision. Yet the subtext was so inevitable that

even

Gov. Gavin Newsom said he briefly wondered if the weekend-long tribute meant he was out of the loop

speculation about thinking about

his lifelong friend and political ally.

“

[I thought]’

Do I miss something? Did she announce something I didn’t know about?'” Newsom said in an interview.

“I haven’t seen any evidence of her backing up or backing up or slowing down,” he hastened to add. “Of course we celebrate her

S

speakership. That’s definitely a good goal.”

Since Pelosi handed over

about

the

reigns from

House Democratic leadership to New York Rep. Hakeem Jeffries in January, admirers piled on the accolades. In recent months, she has received awards from LGBTQ

i

+ interest group Equality California, the New York Historical Society, the American Hospital Ass

location

n. and Spanish

Prime Minister

Pedro Sanchez, who gave her the

Grand Cross of the Order of Isabella the Catholic.

Addressing the convention

on

On Saturday morning, Pelosi made it clear how much she enjoyed her victory lap after the Speakership.

“You know what

E’e

Merita

‘

resources? It means luck

to eat

’ she said to an audience waving signs reading ‘House of Pelosi.

Her speech contained no further hints about her future. Instead, they rallied the Democrats

in a cavernous hall of the Los Angeles Convention Center

for a strong performance in the 2024 election and lashed out at Republicans in Congress.

“Right now, extremist Republicans have pushed America to the brink of an unprecedented default,” Pelosi said, referring to the

ongoing

efforts to raise the debt limit

before a tentative deal was made on Saturday

.

underlining that she is no longer in the middle of negotiations with such high stakes.

She was preceded by a glowing video tribute praising her as a trailblazer

woman woman

politicians and superlative House

S s

peaker, with hymns of

by

party loyalists such as former Gov. Jerry Brown and former Senator Barbara Boxer.

Later that night, Pelosi was honored at a party-sponsored dinner; where the press was not allowed to be present.

Though as a daughter of Baltimore, Pelosi was immersed in politics from childhood

mm

ayor and

cc

assailant Thomas D’Alesandro Jr., her ascendant

as a politician in itself

was rooted in the Democratic state

pp

artsy. Rising through the ranks, she served as party president from 1981 to 1983, four years before she was first elected to Congress.

“She understands the party. She understands what motivates them,” said Bill Carrick, a Democratic veteran. “She has a strong sense of the party structure and the work they do in terms of the grassroots kind of thing. She has real insight into all of that, and not much choice [officials] Doing.”

But her relationship with party activists

especially the left flank,

can be rocky at times

especially the left flank

. She angered single-payer health care advocates when she called for a public health care option instead of a more drastic state program to provide coverage for all residents.

During her speech at the 2019 state party convention, the audience screamed

,

“Accuse! Accuse!” with greeting

S

to Trump, at a time when Pelosi was

Calm

wary of pursuing such an option. (The Chamber, under its leadership,

finally

history written by the

Than-

twice chairman.)

Left

Calm

made a show of force on t

his weekend

convention, interrupting Newsom’s speech with chants for “Medicare for

a

all.” But there was little visible backlash for Pelosi.

“I think it’s been an evolution for a lot of us to fully appreciate what she’s done,” said David Campos,

the

shame

–

Chairman of the State Democratic Party

and a former that had been for a very long time

leader in San Francisco progressive politics.

He recalled the initial skepticism when Pelosi defeated Harry Britt, a progressive who would have been San Francisco’s first gay congressman.

“In many ways, I think she’s so much more progressive than anyone thought. She’s actually achieved more progressive results than just about anyone,” Campos said.

Reflecting the changing feelings among some party activists

the

changing opinions of the wider California electorate.

In 2018, a poll conducted by UC Berkeley’s Institute of Governmental Studies found that large numbers of California Democrats wanted someone other than Pelosi to lead their party in the House.

In March of this year, the same polling station found that Pelosi was the second most popular politician in the state, after

Gavin government

news sum. Three-quarters of California Democrats favored her.

One factor that drove her popularity was her emergence as a foil to Trump, barely concealing her distaste for the “former casual resident of the White House,” as she obliquely called him.

on

Saturday.

“We are thankful that she led and fought and that she had those iconic images that have made us all a little bit safer over the past few years and have had a really hard time getting through,” said Jodi Hicks, CEO of Planned Parenthood of California. “People don’t know what she’s going to do next, and especially if she decides to do something different, they don’t want to miss the chance to show gratitude.”