McCain and Pelos reacted to the president's speech.

WASHINGTON (CNN) – Speaker Nancy Pelosi blasted President Bush's comments Thursday suggesting that Democrats believe "we should negotiate with terrorists and radicals" and suggested Senator John McCain denounce them.

But the presumptive Republican nominee himself defended the remarks, said he intended to make Barack Obama’s willingness to consider dialogue with Iran an issue in the fall campaign, calling on the Illinois senator to “explain [that decision] to the American people.”

“It is a serious error on the part of Senator Obama that shows naiveté and inexperience and lack of judgment — to say that he wants to sit down across the table from an individual who leads a country who says that Israel is a stinking corpse, that is dedicated to the extinction of Israel,” said McCain Thursday. “My question is, what does he want to talk about?”

Pelosi, who is leaving later today on a bipartisan congressional trip to Israel, said there is a "protocol" of not criticizing the President when he is abroad, but then declared, "I think what the president did in that regard is beneath the dignity of the office of president and unworthy of our representation at that observance in Israel."

The California Democrat added that she hopes "any serious person would disassociate themselves from the president's remarks, who aspires to leadership in our country."

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Pelosi said Wednesday the Democratic race should continue.

WASHINGTON (CNN) — House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-California, said Wednesday the Democratic presidential race is not over yet and that it is still possible for Senator Hillary Clinton to win.

“I think the race is alive and well and will continue,” Pelosi said during a news conference to promote Democratic energy proposals.

Pelosi, who has repeatedly said she remains neutral in the Democrats’ nomination battle, was asked whether Clinton's slim margin of victory in Indiana meant her campaign was finished.

"A win is a win. A win is a win. Let's just call it what it is," Pelosi said.

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Pelosi has said several times she thinks a joint ticket is unlikely.

(CNN) — For at least the fourth time in a little more than a month, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has made it clear she thinks Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama shouldn't run together on a joint ticket this fall.

“No, I don’t think it’s a good idea,” she told CNN’s Larry King Thursday. “First of all, the candidate, whoever he or she may be, should choose his or her own vice presidential candidate. I think that’s appropriate. That’s where you would see the comfort level, not only how to run but how to govern the country.

“And there’s plenty of talent to go around to draw upon for a good, strong ticket. I’m not one of those who thinks that that’s a good ticket.”

King asked whether that was because she thought there was too much animosity between the two.

"No," replied Pelosi. "I just think that — well, let’s put it this way: if they think it’s a good ticket, maybe it is. But I don’t think that we should thrust the vice presidential choice onto the presidential nominee. That’s her or his decision to make."

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Pelosi doesn't see a joint ticket with Clinton and Obama.

(CNN) — A presidential ticket including both Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama would surprise many political watchers, but none more so than House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.

The California Democrat has repeatedly called such a ticket "impossible," and in an interview with mtvU student journalists Tuesday, she said flatly, "I don't see it."

"In this case, I don't see that as politically expedient," Pelosi said. "New York, Illinois…either one I believe are going to be strong Democratic states. I think it is up to the nominee to choose his or her vice presidential candidate."

Pelosi also seemed to suggest the two current Democratic presidential contenders wouldn't feel comfortable together on the same ticket.

"The person that is good is the person the presidential candidate feels comfortable with," she said, adding later, "I've just been involved in politics for a very long time and I just don't think that would be the ticket."

Pelosi is sticking to her superdelegate argument.

WASHINGTON (CNN) – In wake of the new jobs report, Speaker Pelosi and other House Democratic leaders are calling on President Bush to work with Congress on another economic stimulus package.

"Today’s disturbing unemployment numbers, combined with Chairman Bernanke’s recession warning, and threats to our standard living because of the rising costs of gas, groceries and health care compels the President to work with Congress on a second stimulus package to get our economy back on track, create jobs, and speed assistance to families struggling to make ends meet,” Pelosi said in a written statement.

Pelosi added, “When congressional leaders meet with the President next week, I will urge him to refocus his attention on America’s economy and to again work in a bipartisan manner on a new stimulus package. We need to work together to restore consumer and market confidence, to assist millions of Americans threatened with the loss of their homes, and to help families meet the rising costs of necessities

House Democratic Caucus Chairman Rahm Emanuel, D-Illinois, said, “We need an economic program that rebuilds America and offers real help to the middle class. The Democratic Congress will now begin work on a second stimulus package to help American families and get our economy back on track.”

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Pelosi said Tuesday the presidential race should run its course.

(CNN) — House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Tuesday she wants the Democratic presidential election to continue through the last round of primaries, but warned against a floor fight at the party's August convention.

"I think the election has to run its course," Pelosi said, later adding, "I do think it is important for us to get behind one candidate a long time before we go to the Democratic convention if we expect to win in November."

Pelosi's comments come as Hillary Clinton is increasingly suggesting she is willing to take her presidential bid all the way to the Democratic convention at the end of the summer.

"I have no intention of stopping until we finish what we started and until we see what happens in the next 10 contests and until we resolve Florida and Michigan. And if we don't resolve it, we'll resolve it at the convention — that's what credentials committees are for," the New York Democrat told the Washington Post.

In the interview Tuesday, Pelosi said she understands why Clinton is making that argument, since 10 more primary contests remain over the next two months.

"We don't know what these next elections will do. We do not know what the conduct of the campaigns in the next four to six weeks will produce," she said. "So if you are a candidate for president, you certainly are saying that you are going to the convention — you can't say anything but. And Senator Clinton might well be going to that convention as the nominee."

But Pelosi suggested a clear frontrunner will emerge well before the party's convention.

"At some point it'll be clear that there is a frontrunner — and at that point we would hope that, for the greater good, for the country, that we can all rally as early as possible behind one person," she said.

The House Speaker also maintained her argument that the party's superdelegates should not overturn the pledged-delegate outcome, and suggested she wasn't affected by a recent letter from powerful Clinton fundraisers criticizing that stance.

"It wasn't important to me," she said of the letter.

– CNN Ticker Producer Alexander Mooney

President Bush and U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi have both criticized China's record on human rights.

(CNN) — U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi says President Bush should consider boycotting the opening ceremony of the Olympics Games in Beijing this summer to protest China's human rights record.

"I think boycotting the opening ceremony, which really gives respect to the Chinese government, is something that should be kept on the table," Pelosi told "Good Morning America" co-anchor Robin Roberts in an interview to air Tuesday morning, according to the ABC News Web site. "I think the president might want to rethink this later, depending on what other heads of state do."

Pelosi said she does not think U.S. athletes should boycott the games themselves.

Related: Watch Pelosi's comments about the Olymipics

Full story

Pelosi is raising money for the DCCC.

(CNN) – House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said she won't let the increasingly heated Democratic presidential race harm the party's congressional candidates, in a fundraising appeal sent Friday to Democratic donor’s just days after several Hillary Clinton fundraisers demanded the California Democrat publicly change her position that the party's superdelegates support the pledged delegate leader.

"Here's what you and I can't let happen," Pelosi wrote in email to Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee supporters. "We can't allow the tension and pressures of a spirited presidential contest to spill over and harm hard-working Democratic candidates running to strengthen our Democratic majority in the House.

“I will do whatever it takes to protect our candidates and make sure their campaigns to drive change forward don't skip a beat. I need you to do the same.”

Two days earlier, 20 Clinton backers strongly criticized Pelosi for saying the Democratic superdelegates would harm the party if they overturned the pledged-delegate results. That stance benefits Barack Obama, whose current pledged delegate lead of 171 is virtually insurmountable given the Democratic Party's proportional delegation allocations, even if Clinton were to win each of the remaining 10 primary contests.

In their letter, the Clinton donors directly reminded Pelosi they have been strong supporters of the DCCC in the past — a statement many perceived as a veiled threat that they may cut off their support.

"We have been strong supporters of the DCCC. We therefore urge you to clarify your position on super-delegates and reflect in your comments a more open view to the

optional independent actions of each of the delegates at the National Convention in August," the supporters stated in the letter.

In a statement Friday afternoon, DCCC spokeswoman Jennifer Crider said Pelosi is "always a part of the DCCC’s end of quarter fundraising program and, like previous her e-mails, has called for Party unity to elect a Democratic President and to strengthen our majority Congress.”

But CNN Political Editor Mark Preston noted that the timing and content of the email was not coincidental.

“Speaker Pelosi was clearly sending a message that she would not be strong armed by anyone and will not allow this presidential contest to jeopardize House Democrats in November,” he said.

– CNN Ticker Producer Alexander Mooney

Clinton's campaign says it had nothing to do with the donors message.

WASHINGTON (CNN) — MoveOn.org, a grassroots powerhouse that supports Sen. Barack Obama for the Democratic presidential nomination, launched a fundraising drive Thursday to counter Sen. Hillary Clinton's wealthy supporters.

Her supporters have recently argued with their checkbooks that superdelegates should vote their conscience at the Democratic National Convention in August.

MoveOn's drive sets up a face-off that illustrates the widening gap in the Democratic Party between some of its traditional financial backers, many of whom support Clinton, and a Netroots donor base that leans toward Obama.

Twenty of Clinton's major donors sent a letter to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi Wednesday that suggested they might rethink their support for the party's congressional efforts this cycle if Pelosi did not alter her publicly stated view that superdelegates should support the party's pledged delegate leader — a position that would be fatal to Clinton's presidential bid.

"We have been strong supporters of the DCCC," they wrote. "We therefore urge you to clarify your position on superdelegates and reflect in your comments a more open view to the optional independent actions of each of the delegates at the National Convention in August."

The DCCC — Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee — assists the party's House candidates.

A day later, MoveOn.org announced its fundraising drive to demonstrate its support for Pelosi's position

"It's the worst kind of insider politics — billionaires bullying our elected leaders into ignoring the will of the voters," wrote organizers in an e-mail to the group's members. "But when we all pool our resources, together we're stronger than the fat cats. So let's tell Nancy Pelosi that if she keeps standing up for regular Americans, thousands of us will have her back. And we can more than match whatever the CEOs and billionaires refuse to contribute."

Senior advisers to Clinton's campaign denied Thursday the campaign had anything to do with the donors' message to Pelosi.

Full Story

Pelosi is sticking to her superdelegate argument.

(CNN) – A recent letter from several Hillary Clinton fundraisers to Nancy Pelosi seeking she step back from her contention that superdelegates should support the pledged-delegate leader appears to have had little effect on the House Speaker.

Pelosi spokesman Brendan Daly said late Wednesday the California Democrat stands by her argument that the party's superdelegates would do damage if they go against the will of voters and hand the nomination to the candidate who finished second among those delegates awarded from the round of caucuses and primaries.

"The speaker believes it would do great harm to the Democratic Party if superdelegates are perceived to overturn the will of the voters," Daly said. "This has been her position throughout this primary season, regardless of who was ahead at any particular point in delegates or votes.”

The statement comes a day after nearly 20 high-profile Clinton fundraisers strongly criticized Pelosi for that position, arguing instead that the superdelegates "have an obligation to make an informed, individual decision about whom to support and who would be the party’s strongest nominee."

The fundraisers, who reminded Pelosi in the letter they have been strong contributors to the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, also urged the House Speaker to "clarify your position on super-delegates and reflect in your comments a more open view to the optional independent actions of each of the delegates at the National Convention in August."

"Speaker Pelosi is confident that superdelegates will choose between Sens. Clinton or Obama — our two strong candidates — before the convention in August," Daly also said. "That choice will be based on many considerations, including respecting the decisions of millions of Americans who have voted in primaries and participated in caucuses."

Pelosi first expressed her stance in an ABC News interview earlier this month — one that benefits Barack Obama, whose current pledged delegate lead of 171 is virtually insurmountable given the party's proportional delegation allocations, even if Clinton were to win each of the remaining 10 primary contests.

An Obama spokesman called the Clinton fundraiser's letter "inappropriate."

Meanwhile, CNN's Ted Barrett reports some Democrats on the Hill are privately complaining the letter was a bad idea.

One senior aide, whose boss actually supports Clinton, said there are “grumblings that pressuring Pelosi was a stupid thing to do,” largely because it appears the donors were “bullying” the speaker.

Another top aide, who works for a senator who is neutral in the race, predicted, “if the misguided effort hasn’t already blown up in their face, mark my words it will. For the life of me how they think they can win this argument with the Speaker is beyond me.”

(Updates with Capitol Hill Democrats' reaction)

– CNN Ticker Producer Alexander Mooney

Clinton backers are taking aim at Pelosi for saying superdelegates should not overturn the pledged-delegate outcome. (Getty Images)

WASHINGTON (CNN) — Nearly 20 high-profile Hillary Clinton backers strongly criticized Nancy Pelosi on Wednesday over her recent suggestion that Democratic party superdelegates should not overturn the pledged delegate outcome at the party's convention this August.

In a letter to the House Speaker dated Wednesday, the backers said that position is at odds with the party's original intent on what the role of superdelegates should be. (Read full letter [PDF])

"Superdelegates, like all delegates, have an obligation to make an informed, individual decision about whom to support and who would be the party’s strongest nominee," the backers wrote.

"Both campaigns agree that at the end of the primary contests neither will have enough pledged delegates to secure the nomination," they also said. "In that situation, super-delegates must look to not one criterion but to the full panoply of factors that will help them assess who will be the party’s strongest nominee in the general election."

In an ABC interview earlier this month, Pelosi said it was her belief whichever candidate ended the round a primaries with the pledged-delegate lead should be awarded the Democratic nomination by the superdelegates. That argument would benefit Barack Obama, whose current pledged delegate lead of 171 is virtually insurmountable given the party's proportional delegation allocations, even if Clinton were to win each of the remaining 10 primary contests.

In their letter to Pelosi, the backers urged the House speaker to "clarify your position on super-delegates and reflect in your comments a more open view to the optional independent actions of each of the delegates at the National Convention in August."

"If the votes of the superdelegates overturn what happened in the elections it would be harmful to the Democratic Party," Pelosi said.

Obama campaign spokesman Bill Burton called the letter "inappropriate."

“This letter is inappropriate and we hope the Clinton campaign will reject the insinuation contained in it," Burton said. "Regardless of the outcome of the nomination fight, Senator Obama will continue to urge his supporters to assist Speaker Pelosi in her efforts to maintain and build a working majority in the House of Representatives."

Meanwhile Pelosi spokesman Nadeam Elshami told CNN's Deirdre Walsh: "As chair of the convention, [Pelosi] is neutral and her position has remained the same throughout the primary season."

The letter comes one day after Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid seemed to suggest Democratic leaders were in the process of working out a deal to ensure the party's nomination fight does not go all the way to the convention.

"Things are being done," Reid told the Las Vegas Review-Journal.

(Updated with Obama, Pelosi reaction)

– CNN Ticker Producer Alexander Mooney

Pelosi again said a joint ticket with Obama and Clinton won't happen.

(CNN) – The Democratic presidential ticket will be a "Dream Team," Nancy Pelosi said Thursday, it just won’t have both Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama's name on it.

Speaking to reporters on Capitol Hill, the House Speaker reiterated comments she made earlier in the week that the two presidential candidates will not end up sharing a ticket.

"I do think we will have a dream team, it just won't be those two names," She said. "Whoever our nominee is and whoever he or she is and whoever he or she chooses, will be a dream team as the Democrats go forward.”

When pressed further about the possibility of a joint ticket, Pelosi stated flatly, "Take it from me, that won't be the ticket."

The comments echoed remarks the Speaker made Tuesday, when she emphatically told a Boston television station that a joint ticket with Clinton and Obama is "impossible."

"I think that ticket either way is impossible," she said. "I think that the Clinton administration has fairly ruled that out by proclaiming that Senator McCain would be a better commander-in-Chief than Obama."

Pelosi’s remarks came a day after Obama mocked Clinton and her campaign surrogates for raising the implication he would make a good vice president.

"With all due respect, I won twice as many states as Sen. Clinton. I've won more of the popular vote than Sen. Clinton. I have more delegates than Sen. Clinton. So, I don't know how somebody who's in second place is offering vice presidency to the person who's in first place," he said at a campaign event in Mississippi.

Related: Does Clinton benefit from so-called 'dream ticket' talk?

– CNN Ticker Producer Alexander Mooney

Pelosi said Tuesday a so-called 'Dream Ticket' won't happen.

(CNN) — A so-called "dream ticket" scenario - the idea that Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama could join forces this fall — may have gripped the imaginations of Democrats nationwide - but you can list House Speaker Nancy Pelosi as a skeptic.

"I think that ticket either way is impossible," Pelosi told a New England Cable News reporter Tuesday, pointing to comments from Clinton and her campaign that implied Republican John McCain would make a better commander-in-chief than Obama.

"I think that the Clinton administration has fairly ruled that out by proclaiming that Senator McCain would be a better commander-in-Chief than Obama," she said.

She spoke bluntly about her view that a joint ticket was not in the cards, she said, because "I wanted to be sure I didn't leave any ambiguity."

The California Democrat, who has remained neutral throughout the party's primary process, said she remains an uncommitted superdelegate.

Related: Does Clinton benefit from so-called 'dream ticket' talk?

– CNN Associate Editor Rebecca Sinderbrand

WASHINGTON (CNN) — Congressional Democrats settled in Wednesday for an extended fight to the presidential nomination after Tuesday's primaries failed to produce a clear frontrunner, while at least one Democratic leader urged party officials to let the electoral process take its course.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said now is not the time for party officials to wade into the fight over the Democratic presidential nomination.

"I think the electoral process has to work its way," she told reporters. "There are still many voters unheard from yet, and I think that our candidates both have the capacity to inspire, to bring out a big vote that will hold us in good stead in November, and I think that now is not the time for anybody to weigh in."

Many party officials are superdelegates, but Pelosi aides said that the speaker was cautioning party officials against pushing for a quick end to the nomination process rather than warning any who are superdelegates not to commit to a candidate.

Pelosi said she is confident the nominee will be decided before the Democratic convention in August.

She said she was "never among those who believed this would be resolved by now," and argued that the prolonged campaign is good for the party, offering Democrats a chance to "make a clear distinction" about their differences with Republicans on a range of issues.

She pointed to Iraq, noting the Democratic candidates are talking about "responsible redeployment versus a 100-year-war that Senator McCain has spoken about."

She was referring to McCain's comment that even after fighting ends, U.S. troops might remain in Iraq for up to 100 years, just as U.S. troops have remained in South Korea for more than half a century after the fighting there stopped.

House Democratic Caucus Chairman Rahm Emanuel, D-Ill., also hammered McCain on Iraq, saying, "Under President Bush and with John McCain's support, America's economy has been hijacked by Iraq and our investment there."

Democratic senators joined Pelosi in appearing confident the party will unite behind the eventual nominee and being largely unconcerned about the prospects of a lengthy battle.

"I don't think it's a bad thing," said Sen. Joe Biden, D-Del., a former candidate who said the race is "far from over."

"At the end of the day we will unite to prevent another Republican from making it in the White House," he said.

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Watch Nancy Pelosi discuss superdelegates.

(CNN) – In an interview with CNN’s Wolf Blitzer, Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, D-California, explained and defended the involvement of so-called “superdelegates” in picking her party’s presidential nominee.

Superdelegates were established, Pelosi explained, in order to allow grassroots Democratic activists to attend the nominating convention without having to compete with high-ranking Democratic party officials for a coveted spot on the convention floor. “So, again, I don’t think that members of Congress, governors and senators are not attuned to what’s happening in their states and in their districts,” said Pelosi.

Asked by Blitzer whether she would be troubled by a brokered Democratic convention where superdelegates tipped the ballots in favor of either Sen. Hillary Clinton or Sen. Barack Obama, Pelosi defended her party’s system. “These superdelegates are all part of their state delegation, so that state will speak,” Pelosi said, when its delegation participates in the convention. The superdelegates “work out their preference working with the people of their state,” she added.

Pelosi refused to weigh in on talk of a Democratic “dream ticket” involving both Clinton and Obama but she did note that roughly 15 million Americans voted for either Clinton or Obama on Super Tuesday. “The vitality of these two campaigns is attracting so many people,” said Pelosi.

Programming note: Watch Wolf Blitzer’s entire interview with Pelosi on Late Edition this Sunday beginning at 11:00 a.m. Eastern time.

–CNN Associate Producer Martina Stewart

Related: Democrats dread drawn-out, costly campaign

WASHINGTON (CNN) — House Speaker Nancy Pelosi ducked out of a press conference on the economy Friday after learning her daughter Alexandra had gone into labor, her office tells CNN.

The California Democrat is headed to New York City for the birth. The new arrival — reportedly a boy — will be Pelosi's seventh grandchild, and Alexandra's second child.

–CNN Congressional Correspondent Jessica Yellin

WASHINGTON (CNN) – House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and other Democratic leaders are launching a new communications effort to mark the one year anniversary of their party taking control of the House of Representatives.

Pelosi and her top lieutenants circulated a letter to all Democratic offices on Friday telling them that "The 110th Congress has a great story to tell." And the Democratic leadership is calling on rank-and file Democrats to tout the majority party’s accomplishments over the upcoming holiday recess.

“We need your help telling this story,” the California Democrat and the other party leaders wrote. “At a time when many of us and many Americans feel our country has been moving in the wrong direction, it is critical that we help Americans learn where we stand and what we have accomplished."

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Watch CNN's John Roberts recap Pelosi's peculiar interview on The View.

WASHINGTON (CNN) – As Speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi has no doubt faced some hard interviews in the past. But her appearance on ABC's the View Tuesday took it to a new level.

Watch House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's frank interview with Wolf Blitzer about the Iraq war.

WASHINGTON (CNN) – CNN's Wolf Blitzer sat down with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-California, to talk about Iraq, Congress, and President Bush. Watch this exclusive interview with the Democratic leader.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-California

WASHINGTON (CNN) — House Speaker Nancy Pelosi blamed Republicans in the Senate for blocking legislation that would either limit or end the war in Iraq in an exclusive interview with CNN's Wolf Blitzer on Tuesday.

"The Republicans in the Senate have now taken ownership of the war in Iraq," Pelosi said. "It was President Bush’s war. And now it is the Republicans in Congress’ war. And that marks a big turning point for us because we had hoped to have bipartisanship in redeploying out of Iraq."

Pelosi said she would continue trying to get bills passed to limit the missions and deployments for troops and promised to hold the administration "accountable time and time again for the conduct of this war."

Despite their disagreements, Pelosi said she thinks she and Bush have a good working relationship, and was optimistic that they could work together on an energy bill.

"I respect him as a person, I respect the position he holds," she said. "He respects the position of Speaker of the House. He knows he has to do what he has to do. He knows that I have to do what I have to do. And so I think we have a good rapport. We understand each other."

You can see the interview tonight in The Situation Room at 7 p.m., ET.

– CNN Associate Producer Lauren Kornreich