Pelosi Losing Clout

In the Bush years, Nancy Pelosi was the hell-raising vocal voice of the opposition. Now, with the Democrats running the show, the speaker of the House is acclimating to the spotlight shining on the White House. Her work has become more behind-the-scenes, inside-the-Beltway. Still, Pelosi is a prominent figure in the trenches of Congress and has made it clear that she and Obama are not always on the same page. Far from a uniter, Pelosi has taken a hard line on torture, investigations of the controversial wiretap program, and taxes on AIG execs' bonuses. Of course, at the end of the day, Obama and Pelosi play nice: they're both creatures of Washington roaming in the same pack.