Coup?

Hmm. First The Politico:

A congressional leader makes a startling statement. The media jump on it, causing a firestorm. The leader first fans the flames and then tries to put them out. Speculation rises that the leader’s colleagues are thinking about mounting a challenge.

Nancy Pelosi in 2009? Or Newt Gingrich in 1998? Or Trent Lott in 2002?

While it is awfully early to be predicting that House Speaker Pelosi (D-Calif.) will face a leadership challenge because of her handling of “torture-gate,” conditions are starting to gel for the good old-fashioned congressional coup. Here are five factors that ultimately lead to a coup:

Next CNN:

Nearly half of all Americans – 48 percent – disapprove of how the California Democrat she is handling her job as Speaker of the House in a CNN/Opinion Research Corporation poll released Monday, while 39 percent approve of her performance.

That rating makes her less popular than other members of her party – congressional Democrats drew a 51 percent approval rating in last month’s CNN/ORC survey – and roughly in line with the congressional GOP, which drew positive ratings in April from just 39 percent of those polled.

Are we seeing Pelosi facing a palace revolution, so to speak? Could be. Pelosi has made a lot of enemies in her relatively brief tenure in the office she holds. Enemies among Democrats, mind you. I can’t say that I would shed a tear for Nancy if she did get shoved aside by a coup orchestrated within the ranks of her own party.

Hey, there’s some hope for change all of us can get behind!