The title of a recently released Yahoo! article is "Pelosi wins the day". So this is all because of her, heh?

Pelosi starts off: "THAT WAS EASY" when in fact it wasn't. This was a tooth and nail struggle in the House and this is even more the case in the Senate.

The next question, of course, is: how many people agree with Pelosi (i.e. that "That was easy?") and that she should get most of the credit? According to Rep. Louise Slaughter, who heads the House Rules Committee, "Somebody once asked me if this victory BELONGS TO President Obama. This victory BELONGS TO HER". Really? It should be a victory for EVERYBODY but ONLY IF this passes IN THE SENATE and right now, on that side of Capitol Hill, IT IS AN ABSOLUTE MESS. "As far as I know, she neither eats nor sleeps". Come on. What are the chances that this is true, considering that Pelosi has 5 children and 7 grandchildren? NOT LIKELY.

According to Rep. John Dingell, who is now considered "Dean of the House", presumably because he has been on Capitol Hill even longer than the late Ted Kennedy, "You, Madame Speaker - AND THE LEADERSHIP - we thank you for the extraordinary leadership which you have given us in bringing us to the point where we are today". "You, Madame Speaker - and the leadership" suggest that this was not Pelosi's undertaking alone.

According to White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs, in an e-mail to POLITICO, "The president appreciates the strong-willed without which this historic vote would not have occurred. Every American who is barred from insurance BECAUSE OF A PRE-EXISTING CONDITION, every American who can't afford coverage or is hurt by out-of-pocket costs that are more than they can bear, owes Nancy Pelosi A DEBT OF GRATITUDE for the leadership she has provided in moving us CLOSER to a new and brighter day". "a debt of gratitude" suggests that Pelosi had a hand in passing the House health care reform package, BUT she clearly was not the only one working on it. Also, we are now "closer to a new and brighter day", but WE AREN'T THERE YET and this is obviously of the stalemate in the Senate.

House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer was gushing: "Her FOCUS, her VISION, her TENACITY her ENERGY" and to think that Hoyer was once one of Pelosi's rivals. Hoyer is obviously doing his victory dance WAY too soon.

According to a Democratic Party insider, "The Speaker always has a map in her head and SHE KNOWS when to invoke history to the caucus versus bring in one person for a three-hour chat. And basically where the negotiations WILL BE THREE WEEKS FROM NOW - but (she) knows (that) the members have to go through the process" and if "the members" end up not supporting the health care reform package, WE'VE GOT SOME SERIOUS PROBLEMS. Also "...will be three weeks from now" is impossible to predict because we don't even know what's going to happen TOMORROW or THE DAY AFTER TOMORROW so how can we jump that far ahead?

Finally, according to John Murtha, one of Pelosi's California congressional colleagues, "I think (that) this is probably going to be THE BIGGEST WIN in all the years she serves. THIS AFFECTS EVERY PERSON IN THE COUNTRY. Nothing else, not the (iraq) war, NOTHING ELSE touches EVERYONE ELSE IN THE COUNTRY. THIS IS THE BIGGEST THING SHE'LL DO" and IF she fails...

So we have to ask this question. The assessment of the Speaker is overwhelmingly positive, BUT THE PEOPLE WHO ARE TALKING ARE ALL DEMOCRATS. The next challenge for Pelosi: LIVING UP TO ALL OF THIS HYPE. She certainly has a lot of pressure on her shoulders now. She should take this momentum and go to the Senate and try to get some votes there and straighten out THE MESS in the most important chamber of Congress. Oh and we have to answer the question 'Did she pull this off BY HERSELF?' and the answer is ABSOLUTELY 'No'. It takes at least 261 'Yes' votes to easily pass a proposal, not only 1 person.