Winning: Not the Only Thing

From the "Be Careful What You Wish For" department, WaPo heavy hitters Dan Balz and David Broder report that potential GOP House losses in this fall's elections might be twice as bad as previously anticipated. this certainly seems like good news for Democrats. And in many ways if the GOP collapse transpires, which I would not yet assume, it will be a good thing for America.

But the question that I hope Democratic strategists are considering even as they plot the path to victory: Then what? It is one thing to run as disgruntled outsiders in the face of arrogance and incompetence. It is quite another to have partial power in a divided government in the face of an executive branch that has somehow managed to try to cast blame on your party even when it has been utterly out of power. If things go (further) awry in the next two years, even if as the result of ongoing administrative incompetence, the feel-good effect of winning in November might well be short-lived. In politics, unlike in sports, the goal should not be just to win. Winning is, or at least ought to be, the first step toward governing. I hope that, even in the heat of battle, Democrats understand the difference.