Samad Hakani, Photography Editor

Former U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi invoked the nation’s founding and the needs of American children at a Sunday afternoon book event in New Haven, describing her career’s purpose and the stakes of the 2024 elections.

The 4 p.m. conversation, moderated by Rep. Rosa DeLauro and organized by RJ Julia Booksellers, took place at Southern Connecticut State University before an audience of some 400 mostly elderly attendees who had paid $75 or more for seats and copies of Pelosi’s new book, “The Art of Power.”

“It has become an opportunity to talk about the vision of our founders, the sacrifice of our men and women in uniform to fight for our freedoms, and the aspirations of our children,” Pelosi said when DeLauro asked why she wrote the book. “It is, as it turns out, something that brings us together at a time right before the election, as fate would have it.”

Both octogenarian congresswomen are running for reelection in November in solidly Democratic districts — Pelosi for her 20th term, DeLauro for her 18th. Pelosi repeatedly praised DeLauro before the captive audience of Connecticut constituents.

But Pelosi mostly took a national view. She urged attendees to help mobilize Democratic voters and donate money, in the final stretch of the campaign. At the first mention of Vice President Kamala Harris’ name, halfway through the event, the audience erupted in applause for the Democratic presidential nominee.

“The times have found us right now to save our democracy,” Pelosi said, citing Thomas Paine’s 1776 call to action. “We have a lot at risk, a little bit of time, plenty of opportunity to get the outcome that we need to have to honor the vision of our founders.”

The conversation between Pelosi and DeLauro lasted just under 45 minutes, after introductory remarks by SCSU Interim President Dwayne Smith and by Roxanne Coady, who owns RJ Julia Booksellers, based in Madison, Conn.

The pair of longtime friends largely sidestepped major elements of “The Art of Power” and Pelosi’s influential, polarizing role in American politics — among them the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot; the October 2022 attack on her husband Paul Pelosi by an intruder seeking the former speaker; and former President Donald Trump, whom Nancy Pelosi only referred to as “what’s his name,” drawing laughs.

Besides this year’s election, they discussed highlights from Pelosi’s career as a representative from the San Francisco area for over 37 years and as the first female speaker of the House, a role she most recently held in January 2023. Pelosi said she was driven throughout her public life by a desire to help American children — a word spoken two dozen times during the event.

When DeLauro asked for Pelosi’s proudest legislative accomplishment, Pelosi described at length the effort to pass the 2010 Affordable Care Act, often called Obamacare. She recalled her response to those who doubted that the bill would become law.

“If there’s an obstacle, we’ll push open the gate. If that doesn’t work, we’ll climb the fence. If that doesn’t work, we’ll pole vault in. If that doesn’t work, we’re going to parachute in,” Pelosi told the crowd. “We pushed open the gate,” she said, with grassroots support. “Rosa was such an absolute, not only an advocate — I don’t want to say fanatic, but some version of that — for the outside mobilization.”

As the discussion turned to the increasing number of women in the House, DeLauro said Pelosi had encouraged her to run for Congress in 1990 after Bruce Morrison, who represented Connecticut’s 3rd Congressional District at the time, decided not to run for reelection.

“When I talk about bringing new voices, new people into the effort, there was, at every moment, Nancy Pelosi urging me to get involved,” DeLauro said.

The book event took place in SCSU’s John Lyman Center for the Performing Arts, a new location announced on Wednesday, due to an unresolved labor dispute at the originally planned venue, the Omni New Haven Hotel.

Attendees told the News they were drawn by Pelosi’s star power. Nadia Tvardzik, an SCSU alumna and middle school teacher in Hamden, heard about the event only after the venue switch and said she was struck by Pelosi’s focus on children.

“When they speak, you can tell they know the history of the U.S.,” Felicia Bartiromo, a New Haven resident, said of Pelosi and DeLauro. “They know the Constitution, and they know how to get things done within the Constitution.”

Simon & Schuster released “The Art of Power” on Aug. 6.