Will the Republican minority leader in the House of Representatives, Kevin McCarthy of California, have the stomach to fight for his party’s ideals if he’s the next speaker? Based on how he’s avoided drawing sharp contrasts, he may not prove the warrior that conservatives want and the nation needs.

Thursday on Fox News Channel, Mr. McCarthy said, “This election is different. This isn’t about party.” Back in August, when asked what the GOP would do in the majority, he had a similar answer: “This isn’t about Republicans winning.”

That attitude is an anachronism from the days when, according to the House website, “early speakers limited their roles to presiding over the House and serving as its ceremonial head.” This moment doesn’t call for those amiable parliamentarians. 

A speaker represents as many Americans as the president and the nation deserves to see the passion of Republican Joseph Cannon of Illinois, Democrat James Clark of Missouri, and Democrat John Nance Garner of Texas.

Those speakers wielded gavels with such gusto, they broke a total of six. Mr. McCarthy will not just earn a larger office and salary should he follow in their footsteps, but a mandate to hammer down the big spending, big government, high inflation, open border, and high crime that have marked the presidency of Joe Biden.

Other candidates have spoken similar lines about being above partisanship. For those in blue or swing states, it’s understandable, but even they miss the chance to expand the GOP tent at a time when Americans want change, with at least four-fifths saying we are on the wrong track according to Gallup polls.

But “different” doesn’t always mean “better.” Think New Coke. Democrats are already saying the GOP’s direction will be worse. That Democrats grow their brand explains their national advantage of 11.6 million registered voters — 38.8 percent of the electorate compared to the GOP’s 29.4 percent — and why Republicans have won the national popular vote just once in seven presidential elections dating back thirty years.

Our republic has a menu of two choices. When Column A fails to satisfy, the electorate swings to Column B. Counting on the other side to lose, though, is not a recipe for a sustainable governing majority.

It’s short-sighted to rely on the fact that the party controlling the White House has only picked up seats in one midterm election since 1902 and just wait your turn.

Minting new members is crucial to electoral success, and it won’t chip away at the Democrats’ numerical advantage if Mr. McCarthy and his fellow Republicans act unworthy of victory, entering office with an apologetic attitude that they didn’t win, the Democrats just lost. 

The current speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi, hasn’t been shy about unleashing her anger at Republicans, threatening on video to assault President Trump and tearing up a copy of his State of the Union Address from the podium behind him. 

It’s a worthy goal to abandon that style and put the country first, but the message to voters can’t just be that Mr. McCarthy is a kinder, gentler speaker. It has to be that Republicans must win because their ideas are better — for November 8 and the long term. 

When President Reagan said, “I didn’t leave the Democratic Party. The Democratic Party left me,” he opened the door for others to follow, building a national majority that delivered a 49-state landslide in 1984 and elected his vice president to succeed him, three popular vote mandates. 

The Reagan Era also paved the way for the first GOP House majority in 40 years. Throughout those victories, the rallying cry — taken from the president’s role as a Notre Dame football star in 1940’s inspirational “Knute Rockne, All American” — was, “Win one for the Gipper!” 

Note the line was not, “This isn’t about our team winning.” 

If Mr. McCarthy is the next speaker, he’ll be in a position to shout, “Stop!” at the Biden agenda. If the GOP is content to be the default choice for a single election cycle, he’ll be surrendering the gavel back to a Democrat soon enough, and the White House will remain out of reach in 2024.