Pelosi's Pipe Dream

Nancy Pelosi is badly misreading the results in PA-12 as I expected she would:

Speaker Nancy Pelosi has a message for Republicans this fall: Bring it on.

A buoyant Pelosi (D-Calif.) on Wednesday basked in the Democrats’ special-election triumph while bashing Republicans and expressing confidence that her party will retain control of the House.

In an interview with The Hill, the Speaker said it was very important to her that Democrats retain the late Rep. John Murtha’s (D-Pa.) seat, which they did Tuesday night.

Pelosi, who was very close with Murtha, said Republicans once again tried to nationalize an election by way of an “anti-Obama, anti-Pelosi” message.

“It didn’t work,” Pelosi said, calling the strategy Republicans have employed regularly in recent years “predictable.”

Asked about House Minority Leader John Boehner’s (R-Ohio) recent claim that there are 100 House seats in play, Pelosi responded, “Let him think that.”

She said there are “more than 200” House Democrats who will be reelected “easily,” but cautioned that she never underestimates her opponents.

Mark Critz, the winner in PA-12, ran as the Democrat version of Rush Limbaugh. He was anti-Obamacare, anti-tax hikes, and pro-gun. The only way he could win in a district with a 2-1 Democrat registration advantage was to run against Democrat policies. There are lots of other districts with a much stronger Republican presence that will be tough for Democrats to keep.