A Bit of Hypocrisy, or is it just Sour Grapes?

A New York Times article reads as follows:

The collapse of the proposed rescue plan for the teetering financial system was the product of a larger failure — of political leadership in Washington — at a moment when the world was looking to the United States to contain the cascading economic crisis.

From the White House to Congress to the presidential campaign trail, the principal players did not rally the votes they needed in the House. They appeared not to comprehend or address in a convincing way an intense strain of opposition to the deal among voters. They allowed partisan politics to flare at sensitive moments. Read the rest ...

Don't get me wrong. I was very much in favor of the rescue plan (or "bailout," if you prefer), and I am about as far from a Republican as you can get. However, I'm seeing an interesting dichotomy, bordering on hypocrisy, in statements from the media and other parties.

It has long been a complaint in various quarters that the legislators in Washington go about their own agendas, paying no attention whatever to the will of the people. Yet here we have a situation where, according to the politicians and the media, public opinion as reflected in phone calls and emails was running ~100:1 against the rescue plan. Voila! The politicians killed the bill, and whether or not it was in the pols own best interest as well, it was still what the vast majority of the people apparently wanted. Now everyone is complaining that the politicians sold out.

What's up with that?