This article originally appeared on www.rollingstone.com: The Power of Nancy Pelosi. : Nancy Pelosi sits in a black-leather booth at Americana, a burger bistro in downtown Des Moines, radiating optimism. "We're in a very good place," she says of Democrats' odds in November. Special-election results suggest more than 100 seats in the House of Representatives are in play, and Democrats need less than two dozen to regain a majority. At the prospect of a victory that could check Trump's power – and, Pelosi expects, reinstall her as House speaker – she bangs a piece of cutlery, hard, on the table.