Former House Speaker Pelosi: “Every issue is a woman’s issue.” Nancy Pelosi did not come to New Haven to downplay her political influence. She sat comfortably in her power — and that was the point.The theme of women’s power reverberated through a talk between former House Speaker Pelosi and U.S. Rep. Rosa DeLauro, whose district encompasses New Haven, at Southern Connecticut State University (SCSU)’s Lyman Center for Performing Arts on Sunday afternoon.The talk, convened by the Madison-based independent bookstore RJ Julia Booksellers, was part of a publicity tour for Pelosi’s new book The Art of Power, a memoir chronicling her time as Speaker. The book includes an account of the January 6th uprising, where rioters singled her out as a target while attempting to stop a peaceful transfer of power for the nation, alongside recountings of her efforts to pass legislation like the Affordable Care Act. Nearly two years after the assassination attempt on Pelosi’s husband, security at the event was stringent, with police and armed officers stationed around campus, a ban on bags larger than a cellphone, and a metal scan for all attendees (who waited to be searched in separate lines for ​“general admission” and ​“VIPs”).Pelosi and DeLauro. Both DeLauro and Pelosi, the first and only woman to serve as Speaker of the House, spoke with pride of their accomplishments as two women who have served for more than three decades in a political institution that has always largely, if not overwhelmingly, comprised men. As the country prepares once again for an election that may or may not lead to the first woman president, the dialogue seemed to call back to a pre-MAGA, Hillary Clinton-era optimism about women’s capacity for power in the American political establishment. Feminist refrains, from Pelosi’s remark that ​“every issue is a woman’s issue” to SCSU Interim President Dwayne Smith’s praise for ​“the power of women’s leadership in all its forms,” recurred throughout the hour and invoked enthusiastic applause. The overall message resonated with New Havener Elsie Chapman, who said afterwards that she had decided to attend the event because it was a ​“wonderful opportunity to hear from two incredible women who have done so much for this country.” She praised the leaders for their efforts ​“to show women the power of their voice.”When DeLauro asked what legislative accomplishment Pelosi is most proud of, the former speaker pointed to the Affordable Care Act (ACA) passed under President Barack Obama. Prior to that law, she noted, insurance companies could legally charge women more for healthcare; ​“being a woman was a pre-existing condition,” Pelosi recalled. “It was a fight. It was really a fight,” she said of the ACA.Pelosi recalled that many opponents of the bill saw the death of the late Sen. Edward Kennedy as synonymous with the death of the bill. ​“You don’t have the votes,” she recalled being told, knowing that ​“the people on the other side of the aisle” included ​“corporate America,” ​“anti-government” advocates, and ​“the insurance industry.”Pelosi credited the passage of the ACA to the ​“courage” of colleagues who voted for the bill despite immense pressure to reject it. DeLauro, meanwhile, spoke to Pelosi’s role as a fierce negotiator toward the bill’s passage. ​“Without her, we would not have affordable healthcare,” DeLauro said.While much of the conversation marveled over the political power that one woman can wield, it also touched on the broader-scale movements that make democratic change possible.Pelosi recalled how, under Donald Trump’s presidency, numerous efforts to repeal the ACA failed. That’s because, she said, ​“the people were with us.” While congress was trying to ​“repeal, repeal, repeal, repeal,” there was political power ​“outside,” she said — in the form of ​“ten thousand” events featuring personal testimony from people who did not want to lose their healthcare.“The mobilization made all the difference,” said Pelosi.“Congress is an institution that responds to external pressure. You all are the external pressure,” echoed DeLauro, speaking to the audience. ​“Sometimes, people don’t understand the strength of our power.”Elsie Chapman.