You've been weighing in on primaries in a way that's gotten some people's noses out of joint.
[
Pelosi shrugs.]
The concern is that party leaders are substituting their judgment for the will of the voters. How do you respond to that?
The fact is we just want to win based on our values. We haven't, frankly, weighed in that much. The chairman made a decision to
weigh in in Texas, and people got all upset because the Bernie people got upset. In the beautiful tent that is the Democratic Party, we have a lot of people, and the districts that we have to win are pretty moderate-to-conservative districts. In a primary, which is a multi-candidate field, it is likely the most liberal candidate will win – who doesn't have the faintest chance of winning the general election. Now everyone's had a chance to show their stuff. Nobody did this from day one. I'd rather take the heat from somebody saying, "Oh, they thwarted the enthusiasm," than take the heat of people saying, "Why didn't you weigh in, and now you've lost."