Last year, Democratic lawmakers made no secret of the fact that they did not like, trust, or respect then-House Speaker Kevin McCarthy. When the California Republican faced a plot from some of his own members to strip him of his gavel, members of the House minority were only too pleased to lend their support and show McCarthy the door.
So why in the world did so many Democrats, including every member of the party’s leadership team throw him a life-preserver instead of an anvil? Why didn’t they simply do what they did with McCarthy and let the GOP majority deal once again with the consequences of their self-imposed chaos? Part of this is the result of Democrats wanting to present themselves to the public as the mature party — the “adults in the room” — that can be counted on to be responsible with the institution's...