House Majority Leader Nancy Pelosi is much in the news as the 2006 elections enter the home stretch.

But not as much as she should be, given her vulnerability on illegal immigration.

Pelosi, the always smirking super-liberal from California’s 8th Congressional District is one of the desperate Republicans’ most valuable assets.

“Vote Republican,” GOP candidates from coast to coast urge, “Or we may get Pelosi as Speaker.”

Even more frightening, candidates do not hesitate to point out, Pelosi would stand just second in line, behind the Vice President, to succeed to the White House.

And to the patriotic immigration reform community, few names raise hackles as quickly or as high as Pelosi’s.

VDARE.COM contributor Don Collins recently pointed out (despite being a Democrat, like me) that Pelosi ranks dead last in Congressional immigration voting. Hence Pelosi’s combined F-/F grade at Americans for Better Immigration for both her career and her most recent immigration votes.

More grating is that Pelosi has consistently flaunted her open-borders bias even when the smarter course would be for her to remain silent…or at least subdued.

Even her peers consider Pelosi a blabbermouth, according to a recent Time magazine article, “Anyone Knows Not To Mess With Me.” [ By Perry Bacon Jr, September 4, 2006]

Who can forget that in 2003 Pelosi went to bat for Mexico, illegal immigrants and Wal-Mart all in one statement? In response to alien round-ups at the retail giant, she said that the “terrorizing raids” would end when workers in all sectors of the economy were legalized.

The kicker: Pelosi delivered her remarks from Mexico. She was there sucking up to President Vicente Fox, along with a team of like-minded Congressional colleagues Representatives: David Hobson (R-OH); Ciro Rodriguez (D-TX), Chairman of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus; Sam Farr (D-CA); Hilda Solis (D-CA); and Linda Sanchez (D-CA)!

But the complete Pelosi story is even uglier.

Pelosi sits near the top of the list of wealthy Congressmen. According to the Center for Responsive Politics, Pelosi and her husband have amassed a fortune approaching $55 million—much of it from real estate development and Napa Valley vineyard ownership. (Take a few moments to peruse the C.R.P. list to find out how much money your local representatives have in the bank.)

And it is a near certainty that part of her and her husband’s wealth is derived from illegal immigrant labor. Their vineyards use non-union labor to pick grapes and sell those grapes to non-union wineries. Read the various Internet blogs on the subject—including our friends the Lone Wacko and Flopping Aces.

Take it from someone who just this morning walked though a Lodi, CA, vineyard with his dogs—illegal aliens work in those fields.

Under normal political circumstances—that it, a true Republican in the White House against a thorn-in-the side Democrat—the best way to get rid of Pelosi would be to influence constituents to vote her out of office by backing her Republican challenger.

Pelosi is, after all, up for re-election in November. She is opposed by three-time chairman of the San Francisco Republican Party and solid anti-illegal immigration candidate, Mike DeNunzio.

DeNunzio on illegal immigration/ Pelosi:

We can end illegal immigration with secure borders and fair rules for citizenship, including a strict guest worker program. Nancy Pelosi supports ‘ sanctuary cities’ like San Francisco that flout the law and create a magnet for illegals. We should honor those immigrants who played by the rules and contributed to our nation, not reward those who broke the law.

DeNunzio is in every other way a natural candidate for the White House to support. He backs Bush on things I don’t: the Iraq War, national defense, tax cuts, homeland defense, private social security accounts, energy and health care. 

If Bush weren’t such a RINO he could turn the Pelosis’ hiring of illegal immigrants for her personal gain over to his hatchet man Karl Rove to do some serious dirt-digging and mud-slinging.

Rove could lead a non-stop campaign similar to the one currently waged against ex-Congressman Mark Foley to expose Pelosi as a criminal who exploits illegal aliens for personal gain.

Things for Pelosi would quickly turn white-hot…if only Bush would come to his senses about immigration.

Since the Eighth District is solidly Democratic—in 2004 Pelosi won against a token opponent with 84 percent of the vote—even heavy financial backing from the Republican Party might not be enough put DeNunzio over the top. (Spending to date for 2006: Pelosi $1.2 million, DeNunzio, $71,000)

But, since, according to the Federal Election Commission website, Republican committees have raised $104 million more than Democrats, it could easily send DeNunzio say $1 million to bring him on cash par with Pelosi.

So—yesterday I spoke to DeNunzio to ask him what assistance the RNC had given him.

DeNunzio told me that he had traveled to Washington, D. C. to meet with party leaders—and that he specifically requested that the party did not give him any money, since he felt that it would be more advantageous to help “competitive races” in the effort to “prevent Pelosi from becoming Speaker.”

I guess this self-sacrifice is understandable, at least from the point of view of a party chairman. The GOP is a tight corner. Incumbent Pelosi is vulnerable…but on the one issue that Bush refuses to address intelligently.

By default then, Bush is stuck with Pelosi as House Minority leader—and that’s if he gets lucky in November.