Credit for the historic victory of the Republicans Tuesday — for avoiding, even with the economy in the doldrums, the usual reverses at mid-term — belongs to Mr. Bush for his leadership in the war against Al Qaeda and Iraq, for his record in passing the tax cut, and for his willingness confront the refusal of the Democratic majority in the Senate to provide reasonable advice and consent on nominations to the appellate bench. But Mr. Bush also deserves credit as a team player who criss-crossed the country campaigning frenetically in the days before the election, asking the voters for a Congress that supports his agenda.

Contrast that with New York. Much has been made about how the chairman of the Democratic National Committee, Terrence McAuliffe, stiffed New York’s Democratic candidate for governor, H. Carl McCall. Equally feckless was the failure of Governor Pataki to back forcefully the Republican nominee for comptroller, John Faso.

In the event, Mr. Faso lost by fewer than 120,000 out of about 4 million votes. One doesn’t have to put out too many calls to discover that a lot of important Republicans reckon that of all Mr. Pataki’s failures, this is the one that will be the most costly in the years to come. For it is Mr. Faso who offers the most appealing ideological alternative to the Democrats, the kind of growth-oriented, tax-cutting policies that Mr. Pataki implemented in his first term as governor. Given the closeness of the outcome it’s not hard to imagine that a little more money and a few more appearances from Mr. Pataki could have put the comptroller candidate over the top.

Also noteworthy is the failure of the New York Republicans even to field serious candidates for Congress in New York City. A Democrat like Jerrold Nadler, for instance, voted against the war in Iraq and wouldn’t even vote in favor of the Pledge of Allegiance. Yet the Republicans failed to field a serious challenger to him. The last time around, the Republicans in New York City didn’t even bother to field a candidate for public advocate, the second-highest citywide office. In some congressional districts in the city — the Sixth, the 10th , the 12th — the Republicans failed even to have a candidate on the ballot. So if a voter went to the polls energized by Mr. Bush’s arguments on the economy or the war, he didn’t even have a lever to pull to express his views.

There has been a good bit of speculation, which we reported earlier in the week, that Mr. Pataki will be tacking to the right in his third term. Certainly he’ll need to avoid the kinds of policies the Democrats usually prescribe for deficits of the scale the state is facing. But he’ll also need to devote some energy to building the state’s Republican Party and broadening its team of personalities. Or else he runs the risk of being remembered as a one-man band in his own little party, with the Democrats playing bass fiddle and drums. Speculation also abounds that Mr. Bush is considering Mr. Pataki for a job in his administration. It’s true that we have a fine lieutenant governor in Mary O. Donohue; she might be truer to Republican ideals than Mr. Pataki. But the talent for Mr. Bush to take a look at in the New York GOP is Mr. Faso. He would be a real asset in any number of jobs in Washington — and could yet could come back as a contender in the Empire State.