Quick thread: real-life stans are people who are there for you all the time when shit gets real. Pelosi is that person fo progressives. When I worked for Reid I saw it firsthand, through good times and bad. Being Speaker is a hellishly tough job and she is insanely good at it.
And if you're someone who, like me, thinks the party needs to change dramatically & change fast, then you want Pelosi at the helm. She sees where the party is going and she will get us there. It's really important to remember that Pelosi passed a public option and cap & trade.
It's really hard to overstate how little rank and file members or even chairmen understand about the job of running a caucus. You don't step into it overnight. Paul Ryan is a bad example because I think he's a profoundly weak person but still, look at how badly he faceplanted.
Pelosi is a "set it & forget it" leader for progressives: she can always be relied upon to find the most progressive position possible under a given set of circumstances. If it's possible to get there, she finds a way. It ain't always pretty, but that's what a great leader does.
