I understand the yearning for generational change and a fresh face to lead the House. I hear the concerns that Pelosi might become a foil in Trump’s reality show, an unhelpful symbol and tarnished spokesperson.

But in my two years as senior adviser to President Obama, I saw Pelosi in a different light. Not only could she count, but she could be counted on to deliver on very tough votes. Pelosi was an invaluable ally and blunt counselor to the President, promising only what she could deliver and delivering everything that she promised. She read her members brilliantly and rallied a fractious caucus through many critical battles.

There would have been no Affordable Care Act without Pelosi, whose strategic and tactical mastery revived a health-reform law many thought was dead. She helped deliver crucial votes for unpopular, but necessary, measures to save the economy from collapse and set it on the path to recovery. She shepherded important social and economic reforms through the Congress.