Pelosi has resurfaced as the villain for Republicans

WASHINGTON — Rallying their membership to vote for a second time against the Democratic stimulus bill, House Republican leaders have become comfortable rejecting the cornerstone of President Obama's plan to resuscitate the economy by portraying it as the work of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, whom they have long demonized as an ideologically extreme, heavy-handed lawmaker.

By resurrecting a favorite villain of the pre-Obama era, Republicans have found their footing as an opposition party with complex loyalties, allying with the president who calls for bipartisan consensus while standing up to the House leadership pushing his priorities through.

"Republicans realize that taking on a president with more than 70 percent approval rating isn't very wise," said Ron Bonjean, a former aide to Republican leaders in both the House and Senate. "Speaker Pelosi says she wrote the bill, so that gives you permission to try to triangulate her."

House Republicans voted unanimously against the stimulus bill two weeks ago, while three of their Senate colleagues crossed over to help Democrats pass a version of it Tuesday. Republicans in both chambers blame Pelosi for using procedural maneuvers designed to accelerate the bill's movement to create a $820 billion package — one they say is bloated with pet projects and betrays Obama's rhetoric about integrating minority views.

"The President asked Republicans for ideas," said House Republican Policy Committee chairman Thaddeus McCotter of Michigan. "The public has looked to the President and to us, but the House Democrats weren't so enthusiastic about that."

As a joint House-Senate committee works out a final version of the bill, Pelosi will have to contend with fresh dissent within her own party. Tuesday night, Obama hosted a White House reception for the fiscally conservative Blue Dog House Democrats, some of whom have criticized Pelosi for shutting Republicans out of the legislative process.

Pelosi's defenders say that she reached out to Republicans by including tax cuts in the bill — a GOP staple that is unpopular with Democrats. "Not a particular favorite of mine, as you can imagine," Pelosi recently shrugged about one provision pushed by business lobbyists.

"There is a sense among Democrats that Obama was overestimating his ability to get them to be reasonable," Rep. Barney Frank of Massachusetts said of House Republicans. "They want to repudiate his policies but bask in his glow. This notion that Nancy Pelosi is defying Obama makes no sense."