Democrats' Victories Mixed With Hard Lessons on the Limits of Their Power

When House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (Calif.) and the Democrats took control on Jan. 4, they pledged to point Congress in a "new direction" of open and honest government, helping the middle class and ending the war in Iraq. Seven months later, in a frantic, final 100-hour push before the August recess, Pelosi and her party gave a much clearer indication of the legislative path they have chosen.

During the 100 hours, Pelosi scored the most important victories of her nascent political reign, as the House approved the most significant lobbying reforms since the Watergate era, voted to expand health insurance for low income families, and adopted new energy policies that made good on her party's 2006 campaign promises.

But Democrats opened themselves to attacks from Republicans who accused the new majority of being more abusive of minority party rights than the Republicans had been during their 12-year rule. They also handed President Bush broad new powers to wiretap and track suspected terrorists, despite serious constitutional questions about those tactics and broad public dissastisfaction with the administration's policies.

A 'Game of Chicken'

Norman Ornstein, a congressional scholar at the American Enterprise Institute, said Wednesday the Democrats had reason to pat themselves on the back for the rash of bills passed in the final week of the summer, as well as the mounting oversight investigations launched this year after six years of generally lax reviews by Congress of the executive branch. "They're actually making some headway. They're passing some bills through," Ornstein said.

But, pointing to the intelligence powers battle, Ornstein noted that Democrats buckled out of fear of not passing the president's bill and then getting "a month of nonstop pounding on them for leaving the nation vulnerable."

"He got this turned into a game of chicken," Ornstein said, noting that the Democrats blinked politically. "They really felt they were in an untenable position."

Democrats may have "blinked" on intelligence issues, but they were accused of using strong-arm tactics to get other legislation slammed through. The grueling, bitterly partisan week that unfolded between last Tuesday afternoon and early Sunday morning provided an important window into the ruling style of the Democrats in the 110th Congress, and more importantly, how they are likely to continue to legislate throughout the remainder of Bush's tenure in office.

Pelosi proved to be a tough-minded pragmatist who was willing to cut her losses in order to achieve at least a portion of her agenda. On issues such as children's health care, with public opinion and the votes clearly on her side, Pelosi and her leadership team were unrelenting in pushing bills through the chamber, oftentimes approving big measures without allowing any Republican amendments other than a procedural motion just before final passage.

But when faced with brewing legislative storms, particularly within her own 231-member caucus, Pelosi demonstrated dexterity by jettisoning controversial provisions in order to win broader support for an overall bill. This was the case with the energy bills approved over the weekend, which avoided a huge intramural Democratic squabble over higher fuel efficiency standards for automobiles. Pelosi chose to put off that fight with powerful Rep. John Dingell (D-Mich.) and other auto-industry friendly Democrats until the fall, when the House and Senate must work out their differences.

A Legislative Las Vegas Showman

Ornstein noted Pelosi's biggest problem is not inside the House but on the other side of the Capitol: "Whatever they do in the House has to be dealt with in the Senate."

There, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) has faced the higher hurdle of a 60-vote threshold to pass most legislation, and Republicans stymied him throughout the year with parliamentary tactics to stall any withdrawal from Iraq amendments and an immigration reform package.

At times Reid has been a legislative Las Vegas showman. For example, he staged a highly rare all-night debate on an amendment to shut down Iraq war operations next spring. But Reid has been prone to folding quickly when he realizes defeat is at hand, which he did immediately after the Iraq withdrawal amendment failed a few weeks back, giving up on the underlying annual Defense authorization bill and not allowing other Iraq-related amendments.