The Opinion Journal looks at what the election meant and what it means for the Democrats going forward.
Tuesday's Democratic election victory was by any measure decisive, yet in the perspective of history also unsurprising. In the sixth year of a two-term Presidency, Americans rebuked Republicans on Capitol Hill who had forgotten their principles and a President who hasn't won the Iraq war he started. While a thumping defeat for the GOP, the vote was about competence, not ideological change.
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The GOP "base" voted in respectable numbers, but enough of it voted for Democrats to make the difference. At 32%, the self-identified conservative share of the electorate was down only slightly from 2004 (34%), and the liberal share of 21% stayed the same. What changed is that the GOP won fewer conservative and independent votes.
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Democrats were able to exploit this frustration even without offering much of their own agenda. While this worked in the campaign, it leaves in doubt how Democrats will use their new power. In the minority, they could assail "George Bush's war" and threaten impeachment to mobilize their base without fear of being held responsible. Now they will have to govern. For Ms. Pelosi, this will mean deciding how much deference to give to the Great Society liberals who will soon run most House committees. Henry Waxman, David Obey, Pete Stark, Ed Markey, John Conyers, Barney Frank: These are sons of the Sixties who helped drive the Carter and Clinton Presidencies off a cliff.
They represent the soul of the Democratic House but not the desires of most voters in the 15 seats or so that provided their margin of victory on Tuesday. To sustain their majority in 2008 and beyond, Democrats will have to hold such seats as those won in eastern Pennsylvania by pro-military veterans Admiral Joe Sestak and Chris Carney, or in North Carolina by pro-life, anti-gun control Heath Shuler.
We doubt voters in those seats chose Democrats with a goal of "censuring" Mr. Bush, much less impeaching him, or because they want a tax increase or an unseemly retreat from Iraq. Flooding the Beltway with subpoenas and partisan hearings may be cathartic for the Bush-hating left, but it won't send a signal that Democrats are different from the DeLay Republicans. If Ms. Pelosi sides with the antiwar Jack Murtha against Maryland's moderate Steny Hoyer in the race for House Majority Leader, Republicans will be overjoyed at this signal that the old liberals are back in charge.
This is the real trick here. The Democrats under Pelosi have to now actually make decisions and solve problems. The old point fingers and screech technique won't work anymore for them. If they descend into non-stop investigation – which appears to be the course they are on – they will lose the electorate next time around.
