An Evening with Madame Speaker, Nancy Pelosi.

[Michael Kovac]

It's not everyday that the Speaker of the House comes to town. And Nancy Pelosi is definitely NOT like most Speakers. As the first female in her role, she's been a trailblazer on a variety of issues - including the recently enacted Honest Leadership and Open Government Act of 2007 which strengthens public disclosure requirements for lobbying and funding activities. While it's new - it stands to make elected officials - and our government operate in a more transparent fashion - something which I believe is long overdue. I think it appears to be a good piece of legislation - and assuming it works as design will be beneficial.

Madame Speaker was in town as part of her book tour for Know Your Power: A Message to America's Daughters and spoke for about 90 minutes to a crowd of 500 who for the most part sat quietly - applauding when appropriate - and laughing during the occasional funny tidbit. I mention the 'most part' because aside from the couple dozen protesters who setup camp outside the venue - and the 3 people who got up from their seats to disrupt the Q&A session on stage - it was pretty peaceful.

There is no question that there are strong feelings about her performance as Speaker - especially with regards to certain peoples' desire to (1) impeach the president, or (2) to take real action towards ending the war - but the protesters got me thinking about the best way to take action.

I've entered this race to represent YOU - the citizens of Santa Monica. And I've created a forum where I can literally learn about your concerns, issues and ideas. This is probably the best way to get a message across - and I'm certain it's more productive than disrupting a Q&A session by shouting at the Speaker. Please help me be your voice by clicking over to the Forums and sharing your view of What Santa Monica Wants.