Fit and sassy after a nine-week recess in such sunny spots as Bermuda and Hawaii, congressional Democrats got a wet-blanket welcome when they returned to Washington last week. The capital's skies spat and drizzled. The public- approval rate of President George Bush had climbed to nearly 80%. And the early victory the Democrats had planned against Bush over his unpopular China policy proved a washout. In the process, both Congress and the White House made it clear that the uneasy partnership they attempted last year will give way to the partisan bickering of an election year.
The Democrats had chosen what...