Pelosi sabotaged bail-out package

Democrats are famous for over-playing their hand. The classic was the "funeral" for Minnesota Sen. Paul Wellstone, killed in a plane crash, and enmeshed in a tight re-election campaign with now-Sen. Norm Coleman.

The "funeral" was nationally televised, and the Democrats took it as a time to beat up on Republicans in prime time. There was no spiritual side to the event, precious little mourning of Wellstone or comforting of his family. It was just a steady drumbeat of digs at President Bush and the Republicans in Congress--and showcasing their replacement nominee for Wellstone, former Vice President Walter Mondale. It was crass, naked politics from the get-go, and the public wasn't buying.

Mondale was defeated handily by Coleman, and Republicans ran better than expected in races across the country.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi performed a similar act today, in her pre-vote speech on the floor of the U.S. House of Representatives, excoriating President Bush and the Republicans for the present financial crisis. The votes were counted for a tight win on the bail-out bill, or it would never have been brought up for a vote. Pelosi poured gasoline on the fire, rather than doing what she claimed to want to do: reach across the aisle for a bipartisan solution.

Of course she drove away at least the 12 Republican votes that could have passed the package. It was as transparent and real as if she had clobbered 12 solons over the head with a baseball bat. But it was overkill.

Americans are already weighing in that the bill was a heavy-handed federal power grab that socializes the economy and does irreparable damage to the free enterprise system. Republicans who defeated it are already being cast as heroes.

The tide is turning away from the Democrats, who increasingly look like the power-mad opportunists they actually are, and are about to suffer a fate similar to Mondale's.

Mark my words--Pelosi overplayed her hand. She snatched defeat from the jaws of victory.