As much as I'm not really a fan of either Pelosi or Reid, I think they realized early on that the numbers were simply not there to beat Bush's veto powers and they knew the ruthlessness of the Republicans to blitz them with filibusters on every contentious bill.

What you view as an intentional holding pattern to give the Dems more political clout in 2008 I see as just a resignation to reality.

Let's remember too, especially after seeing his conduct in this election, that the Dems 51st member of the Senate - Lieberman - was anything but an asset. I'm pretty sure they knew that if they forced a vote on anything truly contentious such as impeachment, ending of the funding of the war, major changes to the financial structure, throwing more tax burden on the oil industries, etc., old Joe would find a way to block them.

Other than bullying their way a bit more to the bully pulpit to rail against the Republicans, what could they have done? All the bills they opposed were loading with things they knew we needed. Take the FISA bill for instance. If that had not passed, we'd have no system in place for an accounting of who the administration was spying on. It would have remained secret and not administered by the courts.

The true test of the Democratic Congress will begin in January. Watch out from me and lots of other activists if they don't start flexing their muscle big time then.

Art