I would say, Pelosi plays both of the roles you mention. Which may be your point also, but you don't make it explicit.

A problem with Pelosi is one of the same problem as with Cheney (Dick or Liz), the Bushes, the Clintons, Kissinger, Rumsfeld, and so on, and on. They start young, often with a dynastic background like Pelosi (she is an heir of the D'Alesandro family political dynasty), and work up and in, whether publicly or behind the scenes or both, to be key players in the small handful of people who decide the conditions of life for billions. Whenever possible they pass this role on to a successor chosen primarily for loyalty to their dynasty.

Pelosi and anyone else with a career as long as hers ought to have been put out to pasture decades ago, having served a maximum time beyond which they would start to have undue influence on the policies of an alleged democracy. When 'politician' is a career option, and too often one of dynastic succession, any attempt at democracy ("governance by the common people") is doomed.