Pelosi Savors Victory. Giants’ Victory, That Is

At least she can savor one victory.

The polls and political prognosticators are forecasting an electoral debacle for House Democrats Tuesday.

But for now, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) can at least bask in the joy of her hometown San Francisco Giants capturing their first World Series since moving west from New York 52 years ago.

The Giants defeated the Texas Rangers Tuesday 3-1 to take the series four games to one.

“Fear the beard,” Pelosi said in a statement congratulating the Giants late Monday.

“Fear the Beard” refers to the Giants’ battle cry spurred by the jet-black, dyed beard sported by eccentric San Francisco relief pitcher Brian Wilson.

The Speaker then subtly intermingled the Democrats’ electoral chances with the Giants’ success by suggesting that few baseball pundits picked San Francisco to capture the World Series this season.

“They surprised the skeptics with a great World Series victory. Victory is in the air,” Pelosi said.

An ardent Giants fan, Pelosi attended Game 1 of the World Series at San Francisco’s AT&T Park. She appeared at two playoff games against the Atlanta Braves.

Since the Giants won, Pelosi now gets to collect on a friendly wager she placed with Rep. Joe Barton (R-TX).

Pelosi bet Barton that if the Rangers won, she’d present him with a stash of San Francisco's famous Ghirardelli chocolates. But if the Giants vanquished the Rangers, Barton would have to present the speaker with deep-dish, pecan pie from the Collin Street Bakery in Corsicana, TX.

“First the Giants will be victorious. Second, I will enjoy his pecan pie,” Pelosi said in a statement at the time of the bet.

So on the eve of the midterm elections, Pelosi has one win down with one to go.

For the record, Pelosi did not enter into a wager with Minority Leader John Boehner (R-OH) over who would have control of the House after Tuesday.