There’s an accepted division of chores in American politics today. Republicans protect us with a strong national defense; Democrats nourish us with Social Security and Medicare. Republicans worry about our business affairs; Democrats look after our health, nutrition, and welfare. Republicans control the White House; Democrats provide a warm and caring presence on Capitol Hill.

The paradigm for this snug arrangement is oddly familiar. It’s the traditional American family. “Daddy” locks the doors at night and brings home the bacon. “Mommy” worries when the kids are sick and makes sure each one gets treated fairly. This neat partition of authority and duty may seem an anachronism from the “Leave it to Beaver” era, but it’s an apt model for today’s political household.

Look at how naturally the parties fell into their respective roles with the onset of war. “This will not stand!” the Republican president declared last summer in stern paterfamilias fashion. “At this very moment,” Texas Senator Phil Gramm wrote to GOP contributors as Desert Storm swirled, “President Bush is bravely bearing burdens that would crush a lesser man.” While Daddy faced burdens, Mommy had concerns. “While we are all deeply concerned about the crisis in the Gulf,” DNC chair Ron Brown told party activists a week later, “I don’t believe that we can be paralyzed by that concern.” Democrats rarely questioned Bush’s gung-ho worldview, much less advanced one of their own. After all the big decisions had been made and with a half-million troops deployed, all Mommy could do was stand at the doorway wringing her hands and wondering whether Daddy might be acting too rashly.

The Democrats’ paralysis ended with........

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