Daniel O'Rourke, CPJ member, contributes a regular column to the Dunkirk Observer. The following, "Are Happy Days Here Again?" was published on November 9, 2006.

After one of the most negative, sleazy and expensive campaigns in political history, the Democratic Party has won control of the House of Representatives.  As I write this the control of the senate is undecided.

First a disclosure: I grew up a New Deal ethnic Catholic Democrat. I was thirteen when Franklin Roosevelt died.  As a boy he was the only president I had ever known.  The wags in my day said the precinct captain registered Italian, Irish and Polish babies for the Democratic Party at the church baptismal fount.  Those days of course are long gone. Education, upward mobility, inter-marriage and prosperity have led the children and grandchildren of that generation to the suburbs, the country club and sometimes to the Republican Party.  For me, however, the democratic brand remains seared in my soul.  Although I confess to voting occasionally for republican candidates, the results on Tuesday delighted me.  With friends I hoisted a glass or two of champagne and joined in singing FDR’s rousing campaign song.

Happy days are here again
The skies above are clear again
So let's sing a song of cheer again
Happy days are here again!

The morning after, however, as I finish this column, I am more somber and reflective. I have second sober thoughts. I hope the Democrats would see their mandate not as a victory of party but an opportunity to
help guide this nation back on track.

Although there were certainly other issues, these congressional mid-term elections were in effect a national referendum on the Iraq war. The nation has spoken decisively against it and the manner in which it has been mismanaged. It was clearly a vote of no confidence on President Bush. I hope he and his administration acknowledge that, but I also hope the Democrats flush with political victory would not gloat but rather offer collaboration and cooperation to a chastened President. Hopefully the administration and congress together will be able to resolve the colossal blunder in Iraq even if it means allowing President Bush to save face. They owe that to our troops, to the Iraqis and to the nation.

This will happen, of course, only if the President changes his strategy, his tone and his Secretary of Defense.  If that does not occur, no matter how magnanimous the Democrats are in victory we face two more years of frustrating gridlock.

Hopefully the Republican congressional leadership will also pressure the President to change course. I am not optimistic that left alone he has the intelligence, imagination or inner security to change his tone or abandon his rigid ideology. Nor am I optimistic that the democratic majority will not be petty and vindictive in victory.  I hope for the sake of the nation that I’m wrong on both counts.

The Democrats in congress must be careful.  They now have power. Regardless of our political allegiances, all of us should hope they use it well.  The recent scandals of Republicans in congress should remind them that power corrupts. It has happened to the Democrats in the days of Wilbur Mills and Dan Rostenkowski.  It could happen again.  The election was a democratic revolution, but revolutions often throw out the czars only to empower the commissars.

Nancy Pelosi, an Italian Catholic mother of five, will be the next Speaker of the House of Representatives. She is the first woman to hold that position and, as every political pundit will tell us, second in line for the presidency. Although she was vilified in the recent campaign, I have no doubts about her intelligence, competency or toughness, but she too must be careful.  Power not only corrupts but absolute power corrupts absolutely.

I would like to remind her of a lesson from her religious tradition -- and from mine. The Vatican does not follow this ritual anymore; it’s too medieval and triumphalistic even for Rome. But for centuries the Swiss Guard carried the newly elected Pope on a raised throne through the admiring crowds.  Acolytes would burn a piece of flax before the procession. As others fanned the smoke away, a barefooted monk would chant: “Pater Sancte sic transit gloria mundi.”  Holy Father so passes the glory of the world.  It’s a good meditation for Speaker Pelosi.  The influence, power, prestige and perks of her high office will quickly pass.  What counts is the opportunity she has in this perilous time to do something not for her party but for the nation, for her grandchildren and for us all.

The democratic anthem, “Happy Days Are Here Again” has another verse.

So long sad times
So long bad times
We are rid of you at last.

We will see. Bipartisan cooperation will take humility, forgiveness and intellectual honesty in the Capitol on both sides of the aisle and in the White House. Few politicians are noted for these virtues.  Happy days are here again?  I hope so.

Daniel O’Rourke is a member of the Federation of Christian Ministries and CORPUS.  He’s a married Catholic priest, retired from the administration at State University of New York at Fredonia.  A mediator for the Center for Resolution and Justice, he lives in Cassadaga, NY.  His column appears the second and fourth Thursday of each month.  Comments may be sent to orourke@netsync.net