Down goes Bailout

Some are questioning the motives of House Leader Nancy Pelosi's partisan rant just before the vote:

To the extent any Republican voted against the bill because of Pelosi's speech, it may not be a question of them being offended by her partisanship, but the perspective that if Pelosi thinks that the situation calls for partisanship, it must not be a serious emergency, because leaders simply don't engage in such antics when a true emergency is at hand. For that matter, if I were a Democrat skeptical of the bill, Pelosi's speech may have discouraged me from voting for it for the same reason.

Could it be that she couldn't deliver her side of the votes? Or could it be that she'd rather keep the crisis on the table to help her party?

Watch for yourself, does it appear to be speech measured to maximize votes for the package? Remember, she's the third most powerful person in the country, third in line for the presidency, the Speaker of the House just before the big vote.

Update: Responsibility falls on the Speaker:

Responsibility falls on Speaker Pelosi not just because of her specific actions in this matter (which were deplorable), but because elections have consequences, and the consequence in 2006 was to give her more than ample institutional power to swing at least another 12 members of her party to produce the opposite outcome on this vote.

Speaker Pelosi and Barney Frank, etc. are out blaming the Republicans, of course, despite the fact that the Republicans are the minority party and despite the fact that the Democrats were too fearful to pass the bill themselves.