Politico reports:

One House Democrat anxious about President Joe Biden’s effect on the 2024 campaign recently sought out guidance from a trusted party leader: Nancy Pelosi.

This lawmaker, who represents a swing seat and was granted anonymity to describe private conversations, said Pelosi asked detailed questions about congressional district-level polling and was “very receptive” to concerns that Biden couldn’t win in November. The member ended the phone call with the distinct impression that Pelosi believed Biden should exit the presidential race.

This lawmaker said the former speaker offered to talk to any other members of Congress who wanted to reach out to her with concerns — though Pelosi cautioned that she would not be initiating those conversations herself.

The conversation described by this lawmaker is the latest example of Pelosi’s behind-the-scenes role in guiding her party as it struggles to find its way through Biden’s political crisis.

Pelosi is not telling members what she plans to do with the information she is receiving from the Democrats who seek her out. But many of her colleagues see her as a last hope of a kind — believing that Pelosi, having stepped down from leadership herself to make way for generational change, may be the best possible messenger to break through with Biden. [Continue reading…]