House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D., Calif.) appeared annoyed during her weekly briefing Thursday when a reporter asked her a question about the Democrats' strategy in Republican states for the upcoming 2018 election cycle.
"You want to talk politics?" Pelosi asked. "Right here under the dome of the Capitol of the United States, you want to talk politics? Well, we can do that for a small percentage of the meeting, so I'm happy to do that."
Pelosi went on to talk about the Democrats' strategy to take back the House in 2006 and how they had to start strategizing right after they lost the 2004 election by developing a positive message and listening to constituents.
She later talked about the upcoming election next year and how the party needs to make sure that candidates are representatives of their districts.
"Candidates will be representatives. That's their job title and that's their job description, so they should be a match to the district, especially if they are going to represent and win the district. This is something from the right to the left has approval in our caucus," she said.
Pelosi praised Democratic leaders for being "hardworking" and said that some of the leaders are self-recruiting.
"We will probably be participating [in] maybe 75 or more races. We just need to win 24. I feel very optimistic about it," Pelosi said.
Pelosi did not mention the economic message in her response that she and other top Democratic leaders rolled out on Monday to rebrand going into 2018 mid-term election. Their new slogan is "A Better Deal: Better Skills, Better Jobs, Better Wages."
The slogan was a major flop among several progressives and media figures, as they castigated it, the Washington Free Beacon reported.
Former Barack Obama speechwriters Jon Lovett and Jon Favreau both criticized the new slogan on their podcast "Pod Save America," with Lovett saying he thought it was "garbage" upon first hearing of it.
MSNBC host and former Republican Joe Scarborough called the slogan "so bland" and "so terrible," and liberal Washington Post columnist Eugene Robinson said it lacked emotional heft.
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MSNBC host Chris Jansing noted the derisive comparisons on social media to the Papa John's slogan, "Better Ingredients. Better Pizza." She said it didn't exactly roll off the tongue.
Progressive commentator David Pakman referred to "A Better Deal" as "flaccid," and former Democratic National Committee chair Howard Dean said Sunday, "Do I think it's the best slogan I ever heard? No, but it's a start."