By Eugene Lyons

United Media

Nobody asked, but if I were a congressional Democrat, I’d have two New Year’s resolutions. One: No more Mr. Bipartisan Nice Guy. Two: Less substance, more political theater.

If you haven’t noticed, 2008 is an election year. Democrats hold small majorities in both Houses. Hence mewling cries are being heard that ugly partisan wrangling is preventing Americans from joining together in one big joyous hootenanny and solving all our problems.

One Democratic presidential candidate, Sen. Barack Obama, appears to be basing his campaign on this fond delusion, although his “bipartisanship” consists largely of attacking rivals’ motives while recycling right-wing scare stories like the imaginary Social Security “crisis,” then offering himself as a healer. It’s the old Adlai Stevenson/Jimmy Carter too-pure-for-politics pose. Hearing it from a career Chicago politician may be a bit much, but there’s always an audience for sentimentality.

But the most insistent proponents of mushmelon bipartisanship are pundits like the Washington Post’s David Broder, forever cautioning Democrats about the political perils of not giving President Bush whatever he wants. “The Dean” recently cautioned Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid that “public approval ratings for Congress have sunk below their level when Republicans were still in control,” warning that “in less than a year, the voters will deliver their own verdict.”

Now, as even Broder concedes, Democrats in Congress are measurably more popular than Republicans (40 percent favorable to 32 percent). They also exceed President Bush’s favorability ratings, which remain near rock bottom. Diehard GOP partisans aside, most Americans have basically given up on this White House and are simply waiting for Bush to go away.

Polls also show that on most critical issues – Iraq, health care, energy policy, etc. – healthy majorities favor Democratic solutions. To the extent congressional Democrats are unpopular, it’s mainly their failure to end the Iraq War. It’s become common to hear denunciations of Democratic “cowardice” on the issue.

Call me jaded, but my attitude can best be summarized by something the late Sen. Bobby Kennedy told a friend of mine: “You don’t have to be a genius to succeed in politics, but you do have to be able to count.”