Obama Begins to Reach Out To Pelosi

"She's the most effective woman I've ever seen, hands down," said Rep. Deborah Pryce (Ohio), a member of the 2006 GOP leadership team that surrendered the majority to Pelosi. Pryce said Republicans doubted her toughness and assumed that Pelosi, a San Francisco liberal, would stumble and drive a wedge between herself and moderate Democrats.

Pelosi has had her share of failures, including her inability to impose an Iraq withdrawal timeline on President Bush. After failing to override his veto of the timeline in May 2007, congressional approval ratings went into a downward spiral that has left Pelosi overseeing the most unpopular Congress in history. "We haven't been able to force an end to [the war], so people don't care about the process. They just want results," she said.

But congressional Democrats scored victories on domestic legislation this summer, including an extension of unemployment benefits and a higher education program benefiting returning war veterans. In many cases, House Democrats had the upper hand on Senate Democrats in crafting the victorious strategy. Those policy wins, along with three special-election victories for Democrats this past spring, have left Pelosi a popular figure in all ideological wings of her caucus. Her campaign stops this summer included conservative pockets such as northern Kentucky and Alabama.

Republicans off Capitol Hill grouse that the effort to brand Pelosi as politically toxic has flopped. At a late-July meeting with young House Republicans, former New York City mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani recounted the regular attacks he faced in the mid-1990s over his ties to then-House Speaker Newt Gingrich (R-Ga.). "We have to be more aggressive branding Nancy Pelosi as the face of the Democratic Party," Giuliani said, according to one attendee.

Other Republicans predict that her governance style is bound for failure. "She gets credit if it goes well, but when it doesn't, she will continue to be the one to take the hit and the blame," said Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.), a former minority leader in the California legislature.

Pelosi said she has not given Republicans "any grist for the mill," avoiding the sort of mistakes that plagued Gingrich with the federal government shutdowns in 1995. The key to her success, she said, has been Democratic unity -- something that is sure to be tested even more next year should Obama win and Democrats pick up bigger majorities.

"We all grow stronger together. So it's not just about me being stronger," Pelosi said.