(03-20) 15:02 PDT Washington - -- In January's darkest days, after Democrats had lost their filibuster-proof Senate majority, leader Obama publicly hinted that he might vastly scale back his ambitions on health care, and top House Democrats all but declared the project dead. But House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said no.

"We will go through the gate," she said. "If the gate is closed, we will go over the fence. If the fence is too high, we will pole vault in. If that doesn't work, we will parachute in. But we are going to get health care reform passed for the American people."

Today, thanks largely to a San Francisco Democrat driven by a profound faith in Catholicism and in the ideals of the Democratic Party, Democrats stand on the brink of enacting a $940 billion health care overhaul that they have dreamed of but failed to achieve for more than half a century.

Pelosi is gambling everything on what is expected to be a razor-thin vote: her speakership, Obama's presidency, and the political careers of Democrats in swing districts. Polls show the human resource deeply divided and tilting against the legislation.