4. Nancy Pelosi « The Washington Independent
With an 81-member majority in the lower chamber, you’d think that House Democrats would have had an easy time passing their $894 billion health reform bill. Think again. With party conservatives insisting on stringent anti-abortion language, liberals demanding the absence of stringent anti-abortion language, and Blue Dogs screaming about the bill’s price tag, it fell to House Speaker Pelosi (D-Calif.) to cobble together a proposal that would satisfy a majority of the chamber. She did it. The House bill passed last month with just two votes to spare.
