One of the common exercises New Year’s exercises involves selecting the biggest story of 2007 – the piece of news that constitutes the most significant historical turning point. In those terms, no story last year was more important than the utte, abjectr failure of the new Democratic Congress. In 2006, Democrats seized control of both House and Senate for the first time in 12 years. They promised dramatic changes – an end to the war, a crusade against “earmarks” and Congressional corruption, fresh initiatives to punish corporations and help the middle class. Even partisan Democrats now concede that this ambitious agenda crashed and burned. President Bush ended the first year of Nancy Pelosi’s reign with a series of victories in budgetary and military policy, as his much-reviled surge continues to bring encouraging results in Iraq. In a breathtakingly rapid and complete turnaround, Pelosi and Reid went from conquering heroes to bumbling embarrassments—with approval ratings far lower than the resurgent president’s.