Pelosi will be aided in this effort by organizational changes put in place by, ironically, Republican Newt Gingrich when he was speaker. He weakened the committees, slashed their staffs and centralized power in the speaker's office. Consequently, Democratic committee chairmen are going to find that they have a lot less influence than they did the last time the Democrats were in control.

Furthermore, the 37 moderate and conservative "Blue Dog" Democrats have let it be known that they will not be shy about using their clout to keep the lefties in check. I wouldn't be surprised if they looked for an early opportunity to join with Republicans on some issue just to show that they can, thereby putting the Democratic leadership on notice that the party's right wing cannot be taken for granted.

Democratic fire-breathers in the House will also be reminded quickly that they cannot accomplish much legislatively when Republicans in the Senate can filibuster their bills to death and President Bush can veto them should they reach his desk. Republicans will have more than enough votes in both houses to sustain a veto easily. For these reasons, there is no possibility that any legislation will be enacted that would seriously harm the economy or national security.

Keep in mind as well that Republicans have lots of experience using the power of the presidency to keep Democrats in Congress under control, even when they had much larger majorities than they are going to have in January. Indeed, I believe that a key reason why Republicans held the White House so frequently in the postwar period is precisely because voters thought that congressional Democrats needed adult supervision.

If Democrats play their cards right and avoid confrontations with the White House on hot-button issues, I think it will aid their chances of winning the presidency in 2008. But the party's left-wing base may be so hungry for red meat that it will be forced into self-destructive fights that will end up strengthening Republican efforts to keep the White House. Which way things go will depend mainly on Pelosi's leadership skills.