Pelosi on thin ice as economy's woes mount

Pelosi on thin ice as economy's woes mount: "WASHINGTON • It is a sign of how bad things are for Democrats that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's best shot at keeping her job come November is to lose no more than 38 seats in Congress.

At 39, Republicans would take control of the chamber, and Pelosi would hand the gavel to Republican leader John Boehner and almost certainly face a coup attempt from within a demoralized new minority.

Control of the House is 'on the bubble,' said Larry Sabato, director of the University of Virginia's Center for Politics. He now projects that Republicans will come up just short, but cautioned, 'We're going to be revising that all the way to Nov. 2.'

Political forecasting models can predict elections based on one factor: the economy. On that issue, the news keeps getting worse for Democrats. The economy is in a serious stall, with unemployment stuck at 9.6 percent and economic indicators turning south almost across the board.

With energy and zeal, Pelosi marshaled the most productive Congress in recent memory: health care reform, financial reform, a record-shattering fiscal stimulus, an unprecedented bank rescue and a host of other victories.

This was not the 'do-nothing Congress' of lore. By the accounts of her conservative detractors, Pelosi did too much.

'She is the center of anything that's happened in the Congress — House and Senate — even with the compromises that some of us have had to swallow hard to accept,' said Rep. Lynn Woolsey, D-Calif., a liberal. 'The administration, as powerful as they are, would have gotten none of what we've done so far without her.'