...President Bush has won a clear mandate for his big second-term agenda, including the giants of Social Security reform and tax overhaul. Yet his ability to do anything still rests with the Senate.... Republicans [picked] up Democratic seats in both Carolinas and Georgia, as well as Louisiana and Florida. They weathered storms in Kentucky and Oklahoma, and even held Alaska. But the big daddy came with the overthrow of Mr. Daschle. That ouster... was as much a repudiation of obstructionism as it was Mr. Daschle's own record. [C]onsider not just the Republicans' numerical gains, but their ideological ones. With the...
