With liberals now firmly back in the mainstream, the chief beneficiary may be President Bush — not just because it gives him, at least momentarily, a unified Congress with which to work, but also because liberals may prove to be his most reliable allies. Bush, like liberals, has shown since September 11 that he understands that the world has changed, and that he’s prepared to deal with the horrendous new realities now before us. It is his conservative and right-wing supporters, both in and out of Congress, who may give him the most trouble.

For instance, within days of the attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, Jerry Falwell appeared on Pat Robertson’s television show, The 700 Club, and proceeded to blame those events on our alleged failure to get right with God — specifically, on our indulgence of the ACLU, feminists, and lesbians and gay men. Robertson agreed. (Falwell subsequently apologized for his timing, though not for his analysis. Robertson also issued a statement that can be summarized, I must have spaced out. Not likely.) Now, neither Falwell nor Robertson enjoys the sort of clout he had some years back. But Bush might not have won the South Carolina primary against John McCain — which was crucial to his winning the presidency — without Robertson’s assistance. Bush ran an ugly campaign in South Carolina, but he’s no hater, and he quickly distanced himself last month from both Falwell and Robertson.

Then, when officials began studying the idea of federalizing airport security, some conservative Republicans opposed it, voicing the suddenly archaic position that it went against their decentralized, free-market ideology. "To me as a conservative, I look at a problem and ask, is this a federal function?" said Representative Bob Barr, a Republican from Georgia who was one of Bill Clinton’s chief tormenters in the impeachment fiasco. Fumed New York Times columnist (and Princeton University economist) Paul Krugman: "What’s now clear, in case you had any doubts, is that America’s hard right is simply fanatical — there is literally nothing that will persuade these people to accept the need for federal spending. And we’re not talking about some isolated fringe; we’re talking about the men who control the Congressional Republican Party — and seem, once again, to be in control of the White House."

Krugman may or may not be right about the Bushies, but he’s surely right about Congress. Bush may fear that he won’t be able to govern without the right-wing Republicans who were his biggest supporters before September 11. But as we move into a new era, he may well find himself relying instead on a coalition of moderate Republicans and moderate and liberal Democrats. The causes that he may be compelled to embrace — repeal of some of his cherished tax cuts, a greater role for government, respect for Arab-Americans and Muslims (a matter on which he has been exceptional), and restraint in pursuing the war on terrorism both abroad and at home — may also force him to walk away from his conservative base.

"Overall, I think liberals will be strengthened by these events if only because the extreme right will be discredited," says Alan Wolfe, director of the Center for Religion and American Life at Boston College. "It depends, of course, on what liberals do, but this is the end of the L-word. Because President Bush is desperately going to need Democrats."

Long-time progressive journalist Harold Meyerson, the executive editor of the American Prospect, agrees with Wolfe, noting that "the current crisis actually changes the ideological climate on things like the role of government in liberals’ direction." He adds: "Public confidence in government is currently at pre–Lyndon Johnson levels. This is quite a sea change." The Boston Globe’s David Shribman wrote on Tuesday that "this seems like the remarkable emergence of at least a brief era of good feelings toward government."

In 1988, the symbol of Michael Dukakis’s hapless campaign against President Bush’s father was his ill-fated ride in a tank. Political observers of every stripe agreed that Dukakis had made an enormous mistake by allowing himself to be photographed in military mode. The unspoken message: liberals are wimps, and when they try to look tough, they come off as pathetic.

In retrospect, Dukakis had the right idea, even if his timing was terrible. Liberals had been alienated from the mainstream of political life for far too long, and they would never be taken seriously unless they could put their post-Vietnam angst behind them.

That they largely succeeded in doing so during the past 10 years is what enables them to be credible partners in the war on terrorism today. Liberals are exactly what President Bush needs: a loyal opposition, ready to support him when warranted, to argue with him when necessary, to push him, to question him, and to challenge him.

Not to put too much of a smiley face on a difficult, frightening moment, but it would appear that our political system is a lot healthier than it looked when they were counting (or not counting) the ballots in Florida, or when Democrats and Republicans were fighting over whose accounting tricks to use in totaling up the Social Security surplus.

Good thing.

Dan Kennedy can be reached at dkennedy[a]phx.com