Well, Mayor Bloomberg, for starters. The fate of the Senate was still in doubt when the Sun went to press, but America’s decision to revoke from the Republicans’ control of the House of Representatives and deliver it to the Democrats portends the kind of bickering and recrimination in Washington that Mr. Bloomberg has been warning about for months now. The Democrats can be counted on to use the authority they have gained to make life as difficult as possible for the president, though they will do so at their peril. Several of the Democratic gains yesterday were made by candidates running toward the center.

Most spectacular was the independent victory of Senator Lieberman over his hard-left Democratic opponent, Ned Lamont. So much for interpreting the 2006 election as an anti-war tidal wave. Mr. Bloomberg threw just about everything he legally could behind the Lieberman campaign. The Lieberman campaign, in any event, was the first step by Mr. Bloomberg in building a national independent movement, a template for eschewing partisanship in favor of problem-solving. This isn’t an endorsement. We disagree with Mr. Bloomberg on a number of important issues, and number of strong players are vying on the national scene, including another New York mayor, Rudolph Giuliani. But if the season ahead brings more partisan sniping between Democrats and Republicans in Washington, the mayor will face a situation in which his kind of non-acrimonious, pragmatic, management-based approach to governing can gain ground.

Governor-elect Spitzer has won a famous victory. We backed John Faso for his fidelity to principles we share; he walks away from this with his head held high. But we congratulate the governor-elect. One of the most important things about Mr. Spitzer’s campaign has been that he was anti-Lamontian on substance, relatively hawkish on the Middle East, including Iraq. The centerpiece of his campaign was a pledge of no new taxes; indeed, promises of tax reductions. He has a nest of vipers waiting for him in Albany, and we wish him well. Congratulations are in order for Senator Clinton, as well; to win re-election by the margin she won is a major achievement. But as 2008 beckons, the New Yorkers with proven executive records are Mayors Bloomberg and Giuliani.