November 9, 2006 - With the reins of power all in the hands of the President’s party there was a truism that ran, “with absolute power comes absolute responsibility.” That was the standard that against which the electorate measured the President and his party on November 7th. While the Democrats may be excused to relish there electoral triumph for a day or two when the celebration is over and the tough business of governing commences in January the loyal opposition will find that the taste of victory has a bitter overtone.

The era of one party rule is over. The checks to balance our tripartite government have been restored. No longer able to rely upon the rubber stamp of a Republican controlled House and Senate the President will be forced in his last two years to either govern from the center in a spirit of compromise or descend into a two year cycle of confrontation and partisan posturing. That same challenge faces the Democrats of the House and Senate for with shared power came shared responsibility.

At some point between the President’s re-election in 2004 and last Tuesday the proposition that all the ills of the country were inherited from the Clinton administration ceased to resonate with the American people and the absolute responsibility of absolute power came home to roost with the 2006 elections. Having found the Republicans wanting and elected their opponents the American people will expect palpable results from their choice. The Democrats who will control the 110th Congress will not be afforded the luxury of placing blame on the Republicans. The electorate has already done that and the electorate expects the Democrats to come up with solutions.

The task of providing solutions is not an easy one. The President is still the leader of the Republican Party. He still controls the levers of executive power and he is still the commander in chief of the armed forces. The President and not the Congress sets the national agenda. The President and not the Congress is on the top rung of the chain of command. Congress can pass all the resolutions that it can think up to chart the nation’s course but, as we saw in Iran-Contra, enforcing those resolutions is a different matter.

If the nation is squeezed between an ideology in the White House and an obstructionist Congress, each maneuvering for partisan advantage America will come to its next election a divided nation verging on chaos. The electorate will not forget nor will they be fooled again. The bi-partisan challenge will be to draw on the strengths of both parties to arrive at solutions to the vexing problems of our country. That is how we must parse the message that the electorate sent as it reallocated the power of government.