The bailout bill just went down to a vote of 228-205. According to a source inside the Dem caucus, Rep. Boehner said he could deliver 80-90 votes, but ultimately only 66 R’s voted aye. The House Republicans are trying to blame House Speaker Nancy Pelosi for an excessively partisan speech for losing the votes.

Rep. Chris Shays, who voted aye, just said on the steps of the Capitol that “Nancy blew it.” A Pelosi spokesperson is having none of it: ” “You don’t vote on a speech, you vote on a bill.”

House Dems are now huddling in the Capitol and it’s unclear what the strategy is. One possibility is to just craft a bill that can pass with only Democratic votes, then force the issue on the Senate.

We’ll see.

Democracy turns out to be alive and well, even if the Dow isn’t particularly pleased.

UPDATE: Here’s the Roll Call

Marcy Kaptur says it was an amazing day in the United States Congress. “The American people were heard and fear was put on the shelf.”

UPDATE II: Barney Frank on bailout failure: Republicans put feelings ahead of country…