ADVANTAGE:the first point scored after deuce.

The language of tennis is too precious in some ways. To me, it reflects the genteel origins of the sport. "Love... deuce... advantage...." The words all sound like terms one might expect to be used in describing ballet positions. Not quite the same as "Scrum...foul ball...or piling on...."


However, as gentle as the tennis terms may be, anyone who has followed the sport knows that the words describe intense, aggressive, and demanding moments in athletic competition. When I watch the Wimbledon or the U.S. Open I am awed by the painfully aggressive athleticism of the competitors. The loud and audibly painful sound of grunting when returning the ball is hard to ignore. This is not a gentle sport.

It isn't tennis season yet. Snow still covers most of the sites of major competition in the United States and Europe. But the language of tennis came to mind when I was thinking about the U.S. Congress over the past week or so. The metaphor of tennis applies.

If, in tennis, a competitor fails to jump on the advantage moment she/he may lose the game. The score has been tied, and one player has just scored a tie-breaking point. Thus: advantage. It isn't the end of the game. No one has won yet. But the one player is one step ahead of the other and can smell a victory if other points can be attained without the other player scoring first.

The Democrats in Congress have the advantage position on legislation. They have a sizable majority of Members in the House of Representatives and a mind-blowing majority in the Senate. (Until Massachusetts scored, they were at set point and could have won the legislative game without any interference by the Republicans.)

However, there was a decision to be made: Is this game a tournament competition, in which victory is urgent, or are we just playing a casual, friendly game on a sunny Sunday afternoon where the exercise is more important than winning? From my perspective the latter was the choice. The Democrats seem to have chosen seeking friendly bipartisanship over legislative victory.

Having a scoring advantage(more than a majority) in Congress is a big deal. When both houses have that advantage one party has an opportunity to act in a way that is seldom the case. If a party believes in issues strongly enough to have campaigned on them and defeated other candidates with opposite goals, having a majority is an advantage to be seized upon and applied.

In the case of Congress, a party in that advantageous position needs to recognize that forging ahead and "scoring" legislative victories based upon that advantage can be risky. It may energize the opposing party and jeopardize future elections. It may lead to characterization of being a legislative bully, affecting the political perspective of the populace. (That is particularly true in the current Tea Party environment.)

However, massive social change within one's grasp is nothing to sneeze at. It is how previous generations of legislators brought about civil rights and economic recovery. The other possibility in taking advantage of that majority is to gain the respect and thanks of a nation which returns the party to power because of the strength of its "game."

There isn't a lot of time left for Democrats to hear the announcer's words, "Advantage: Democrats" sounding in their ears. This is no time to decide (mid-game) that gentle bipartisanship (which I believe is incapable of being attained in the current Congress) is better than winning legislative victories.

Health Care, economic reform, gay rights in the Military, and even education and immigration reform can be affected before the November elections if the Democrats in Congress remember that they have the advantage and it was given to them by a nation who wanted them to win the battles in Congress. This is not the time to put on a demonstration tournament in which everyone comes away smiling and cheery on the way to the refreshment tent. But it will take the Democrats remembering why they were elected; they need to stop focusing on their re-elections. They will not have this advantage after November.

Cartoon credit: www.johnhaggis.com/humour.php