Rep. Dennis Hastert, originally uploaded by Rob Bluey.

Today the New York Times profiled Rep. Dennis Hastert (R.-Ill.) about life after serving as House speaker. Hastert told bloggers he thought it was a fair article. Brian from the Influence Peddler asked the logical follow-up question: What did Hastert think about the job Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D.-Calif.) has done so far?

Surprisingly, Hastert had good things to stay about her. He began by calling her a “pretty good cheerleader” but also cited her success on the Iraq supplemental vote as proof that she can get the job done. “She’s a formidable opponent,” Hastert told us.

Still, he said Pelosi faces some big hurdles keeping her caucus together. With factions ranging from the Congressional Black Caucus to the Blue Dogs, there are a lot of members who could break off. Hastert knows how tough the job can be — so tough that Republicans lost the majority because they couldn’t get their act together.