Nancy Pelosi Goes Over the Edge for U2

 

 
Bless her heart, Nancy Pelosi never stops recruiting for Democrats. Not for a single second. The House Speaker was Bono's special guest at this week's U2 concert here in Washington, where she got two—yes, two—shout-outs from the stage. Even the Edge was jealous. Speaking to reporters today at her weekly news conference on Capitol Hill, Pelosi was still all aglow. “Elevation,” she explained, was her favorite song of the night. But there’s more to the story. It turns out Pelosi went to the concert with her daughter, Jacqueline, and her son-in-law, Michael Kenneally, a rabid U2 fan who happened to be celebrating his 42nd birthday. But here’s the shocker: “He’s a Republican,” Pelosi stated matter-of-factly. Pause. “He is a lovely husband and father,” she quickly added.

Backstage, the whole Pelosi clan, the Republican and all, got to meet the band before the concert, where Bono learned it was Kenneally’s birthday. Later, during the show, Bono wished Pelosi’s son-in-law a happy birthday during their take of “With or Without You.” But this sounds less exciting, compared with how Pelosi related it to reporters today. She was, in a word, verklempt:

And, in case you didn't hear it, go to YouTube. "With or Without You," that beautiful song, Bono says, "Happy Birthday, Michael." Oh, my gosh. That happens to be my—they told Bono that that was their song, my daughter and son-in-law. And while he was singing it last night—I mean, not last night, two nights ago—he sang "Happy birthday, Michael." So can you just imagine?!

Seriously, we haven’t seen Pelosi this excited since Democrats took back the House. But, as she told reporters today, U2 never gets in the way of Democratic politics. After the show, Pelosi says she turned to her son-in-law. “You should change your registration because I took you to that concert,” she told him. “You owe me major.” Kenneally, she told reporters, “wasn’t interested.” Oh, well.You win some, you lose some. At her presser today, Pelosi described the concert as “a fun time” and praised the “many good songs.” And she raved about U2’s in-the-round stage, dubbed the Claw—though some reporters didn’t appear to know what she was talking about. “Was that not great?” she asked “Are you familiar with the Claw? Come on, get up with your popular culture!”