THE BEST SPIN Democratic National Chairman Terry McAuliffe could put on his party's historic drubbing in the congressional elections Tuesday was that the Republicans scored a victory that was "tactical, not ideological."

He's right about that. President Bush and the GOP masterfully made the best use of their assets. They recruited strong challengers to face Democratic incumbents. They changed the subject from economic woes to possible war with Iraq. They sent a commander in chief still popular from his handling of the 9/11 attacks barnstorming across the country for weeks, rallying the faithful and attracting the undecideds.

But the president did not win a mandate for a philosophical agenda. Democrats simply failed to put up a real fight on the issues.

They never succeeded in presenting to voters a clear vision of how a competing Democratic policy position would benefit them more than the Republican approach.

Democrats had plenty of chances. The economy was staggering at the same time corporate America was erupting in scandal over fraudulent bookkeeping. Millions of potential voters lost their savings, their jobs or both as a result. Even after Mr. Bush agreed to legislation designed to impose some accounting reforms, Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman Harvey Pitt gave every impression of being the fox guarding the henhouse.

Yet if Democratic candidates talked about the economy at all, they tried to blame Mr. Bush's tax cut, usually without going so far as to urge an alternative.

Polls suggest there is growing unease in Maryland and elsewhere in the country over the prospect of a bloody and costly war with Iraq. Yet most congressional Democrats swallowed their own doubts and voted early last month to give Mr. Bush sweeping authority to take whatever action he sees fit, making the military conflict a non-issue in the campaign.

And what of homeland defense? Mr. Bush beat up Democrats for thwarting his plan to create a massive new bureaucracy charged with protecting the homeland because they don't want to suspend civil service protections for agency workers. But Democrats failed to point out that there's little evidence the Bush administration is making changes that will actually make the country safer, particularly within the critical intelligence agencies that missed advance warnings of the 9/11 attacks.

While the post-election Congress reorganizes under full Republican control, most voters doubtless share the hope expressed by the White House yesterday that the lawmakers will now be able to put aside their partisanship and work together.

As a practical matter, though, the GOP margin is far too small, especially in the Senate, to ensure that the stalemate on most legislation will be broken. The greatest impact is likely to be on the federal bench -- it will be far more difficult for Democrats to block Mr. Bush's judicial nominees.

The judiciary is another issue the Democrats might have used effectively in the campaigns. But they have plenty of time now in the minority wilderness to sift through the cinders of their squandered opportunities.