Most of my life, I have been a liberal Democrat. In other words, I’ve been rooting for the underdogs.

By the time I came to be of voting age — 1988 to be exact — “liberal” had become a pejorative and the Democratic party was on the downswing. Frankly, the Democratic party hasn’t had a lot to crow about in a long, long time. Even when Clinton broke the Democrats’ presidential losing streak, there wasn’t much to cheer about. He started off with a shaky presidency, and by the time he got his act together the Democrats lost control of the House — and then Clinton got caught with his pants down. Literally.

Now the Democrats have won a resounding victory in Congress. I mean, they’ve not only given the Republicans a bloody nose but have also kicked them between the uprights and taken their lunch money. Had this happened 10 or 15 years ago I’d've been ecstatic. Not today.

Why? Because I no longer see “the other side” as the enemy. The Republican party has its virtues, having produced some fine leaders such as John McCain, a man capable of working in a truly bi-partisan way. Moreover, the Democratic party can be just as dirty and ugly as the GOP. It’s just harder to see because they’ve been the underdog for so long.

The real lesson of this election is not that “Republicans suck,” as some might have us believe. The real lesson is: “Be careful what you wish for, because you just might get it.

The Republicans wanted total control over the federal government. They pretty much got it by winning the presidency and a majority in both houses of Congress. It is fair to say that as a collective, they were pretty damned smug about it. Conservative pundits crowed about the death of liberalism and the Democratic party.

Then reality came crashing down on all of them.

With nearly total control of the federal government, Republicans had to stand and deliver on both the domestic and foreign policy fronts.

They failed. Miserably. The deficit has ballooned. We’ve made no progress on social security or immigration reform. The Medicaid prescription drug benefit was a costly boondoggle. The war on terror has gone badly: we’re losing ground in Afghanistan; Iran and North Korea are going nuclear; and our forces are tied down in an unnecessary war in Iraq. Mark Foley’s immoral behavior gave a black eye to a party that was insufferably preachy about morality.

So much for the inherent superiority of conservatism and the Republican Party. The Republicans knew how to achieve power, but had no earthly idea what to do with it. In receiving their wish, the Republicans found their downfall.

If the Democrats continue with this momentum and win the presidency in 2008, it will be their turn to stand and deliver. And they had damned well better, or the voters will smack them down as hard as they smacked down the Republicans.

Then it will be the Democrats turn to regret that their wish was granted.