How Nancy Pelosi succeeded in a bitterly divided era

There is a segment of a new film about Nancy Pelosi that is scary as hell. It comes right at the beginning, when protesters, or rioters, or insurrectionists, or whatever term will later be used to describe them, storm the US Capitol on the afternoon of 6 January 2021. The footage, timestamped 2.41pm and taken from a security camera above a corridor, shows members of staff hurrying to safety. They enter an office, where the door is quickly closed, one woman flashing a rapid look over her shoulder.

At this moment, the rioters are not yet in the picture, but we can hear their voices shouting out.

“Nancy.” “Nancy.” “Where you at, Nancy?” “Tell Nancy we’re looking for her.”