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As the Democratic Caucus in the U.S. House prepared for its new majority with leadership votes on Wednesday, the battle over the party's future direction played out today with the nomination of Rep. Nancy Pelosi to retake her previous role as Speaker of the House.\xa0 Progressive journalist, author and activist NORMAN SOLOMON discusses the internal party challenge to Pelosi and how progressives must continue to pressure their Congressional leadership from the bottom up when they take control in January. Solomon, who helped author both a Democratic "autopsy" after the disastrous 2016 election and a recent follow-up before the November midterms, explains how both newly-elected Democrats -- and the voters who put them there -- will need to step up action over the next two years to support wildly popular progressive reforms, from the minimum wage to healthcare and tax policy, if they are to avoid mistakes made by Democrats (with some of the same leadership) in years past. Also today: In Mississippi, Republican incumbent Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith reportedly won yesterday's runoff against Democrat Mike Espy, as predicted, but by a far narrower margin than expected in the deep "red" state.\xa0 Another Houses race is called for a Democratic candidate in a \u201cred\u201d district won by Trump in 2016. In North Carolina, a Democratic member of the county board of elections has refused to certify the results in the state's 9th Congressional District, a race believed won by a Republican, after citing unspecified "unfortunate activities". We've got a number of details on what may be behind this still-unfolding mystery.\xa0 Dems may ultimately end up with a 40-seat majority in the U.S. House, having officially won by the largest margin of votes in history for any party.