Dems Pelosi, Reid adapt to life in Obama's shadow

WASHINGTON — House Speaker Nancy Pelosi didn't lose her temper. But she unleashed a bit of sarcasm when someone suggested, yet again, that she's a thorn in President Barack Obama's side.

"Let me get this straight," the California Democrat told a group of liberal bloggers this past week. They had asked her about unattributed reports that the White House thought the $787 billion stimulus bill might have won a few more votes from House Republicans if Pelosi had not moved it so quickly.

"It couldn't be farther from the truth," she said dismissively, noting Obama had requested the bill by President's Day.

Pelosi might have been slightly less irritated if Republicans weren't constantly making the opposite charge: that she is the driving force behind Obama's bid to ram a liberal and costly agenda into law over GOP protests.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., is the third conspirator, say these Republicans, who speak as if a three-headed beast is leading the country leftward. Lawmakers "sound the alarm over the Obama-Pelosi-Reid budget proposal," said a typical recent new release from the GOP.

Such is life for Pelosi and Reid these days as they adapt to new roles that increase their ability to enact legislation while reducing their powers to direct the Democratic Party.

For two years, as the party's highest-ranking elected officials, they used their congressional majorities to thwart key elements of President George W. Bush's agenda. Now with Obama the Democrats' unquestioned leader, Reid and Pelosi play less visible and more intermediary parts.

They will oversee Congress' efforts to fill in the details of his legislative blueprint, working to keep Democrats on board and angling for Republican votes where possible. It's a balancing act: trying to put in place the new president's priorities while protecting the legislative branch's right to modify or reject executive branch initiatives.

Standing in the middle, they are easy targets for critics. Pelosi saw that when people simultaneously accused her of being too friendly and too combative with Obama.

Not since 1994 have Democrats controlled the House, Senate and White House. So there's "a period of adjustment," said Sen. Bob Casey, D-Pa., a close ally of Obama and Reid.

On balance, he said, the White House and congressional leaders have good relationships. But "you already see sometimes where everyone's not in agreement," Casey said. "That's going to happen."