Obama: Pelosi was 'one of the best' Speakers, will be back in 2013

President Obama on Saturday said Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) was a great House Speaker and that she will get that job back after the 2012 elections.

"I am biased, but I think Nancy was one of the best Speakers of the House this country ever had," Obama said after Pelosi had introduced him at the National Italian American Foundation gala.

"She was no doubt the best Italian American Speaker of the House we ever had. And I believe that she will be the best Speaker of the House again in 2013."

Pelosi, the veteran lawmaker from San Francisco, was the House's 60th Speaker and the first woman to hold that position. 

Now the minority leader, Pelosi handed the gavel to John Boehner (R-Ohio) after Republicans trounced Democrats in the 2010 midterm elections.

In the past, conservative campaigns have tried to paint Pelosi -- and her leadership role in the Democratic Party -- as the threatening face of the left.

As Republicans try to take the White House from Obama in 2012 and keep their majority in the House, they will likely pounce on the president's desire to have Pelosi back in power in Congress.

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