The power of 41

Politics | Democratic leaders are watching their healthcare overhaul options dwindle | Edward Lee Pitts

Associated Press/Photo by Pablo Martinez Monsivais

WASHINGTON—Nearly 48 hours after the shot heard around Congress, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi rhetorically asked a room of Capitol Hill reporters: "Where do we go from here?"

Less than a month ago even a political pundit with Nostradamus' genes would have had difficulty predicting that one of the Democrats' top healthcare maestros would have uttered that question. But that was before Scott Brown came to town.

As Pelosi began answering her own query—pitching that the new congressional calculus had "not diminished the need for healthcare"—an antique grandfather clock interrupted her with its chimes.

"Do we have a new clock?" Pelosi asked.

Yes, Madame Speaker, a new healthcare clock is ticking, and those chimes you are hearing may have been signaling the 11th hour for the Democrats' yearlong push for an overhaul.