I don't believe their in cahoots and here's why:
If they were in cahoots,they would have rushed the microphones and made their denouncement of Chavez right after his speech.
But they didn't do that...dead silence from them.
Now, the next morning comes around, polling has been done, Bill Clinton style "finger to the wind" and lo and behold, they realize they've got a problem. So Pelosi, Bubba, and Rangel are the appointed "waterboys" to carry the "bash Chavez" message. (Harkin evidently didn't get the memo.)
I think if they were in cahoots, they would have come out against Chavez much sooner than they did.
Not only that, but the dimwits have really painted themselves into a corner here. How can they bash Bush now before the elections ? Bashing Bush is Angelides (socialists running for CA Governor) number one tactic against Arnold right now. They have just neutered their number one campaign tactic.