Pelosi declined through her spokeswoman to comment. The only statement issued from her office, by Press Secretary Jennifer Crider, was that the committee decision "will be made before early January."
Harman said in an interview that she did not wish to vent the matter in public. "I read about this in the paper last year and I visited with her then," said Harman, who would not disclose the nature of their conversation.
"It's so unfortunate because they're both capable people," said William Coblentz, a San Francisco lawyer who has contributed to both their careers and coffers. "I know them both well, and I love them both, but I believe Nancy felt that Jane was abrasive and aggressive, which she can be."
Pelosi's supporters say the dust-up over Harman is not personal, noting that the Democratic leader spent an extra day in California lobbying the state party to endorse Harman in her reelection bid.
Although they may seem similar on the surface -- two wealthy and powerful Democrats from California -- Pelosi and Harman are cut from different cloth. Pelosi is a people person -- she recently entered a raucous room of reporters offering to shush them in her "mother-of-five voice." Harman has a more cerebral personality and revels in the minutiae of policy.
Pelosi grew up in Baltimore, where her father, Thomas D'Alesandro Jr., was mayor, and got an early education in the art of machine politics. She met Paul Pelosi while at Trinity College in Washington, and the couple moved to his hometown of San Francisco. As Paul Pelosi grew the family's fortune through real estate and stock investments, Nancy Pelosi raised their children, then worked her way up in California Democratic Party politics from volunteer to chairwoman for Northern California. She was elected to the U.S. House in 1987.
Harman grew up in Los Angeles, the daughter of a Westside physician. She graduated from Smith College and Harvard Law School at a time when few women went into law. Harman began her career in Washington as a Capitol Hill staffer and later worked in the Carter White House before going into private law practice. She is married to Sidney Harman, founder and chairman of Harman Industries. She ran for the House in 1992 and joined Pelosi in the California delegation, representing Venice.
People who know both women say there was no single incident that soured their relationship; rather it was a series of small irritations that eventually led to estrangement.
