One probable consequence of the Republican takeover of the Senate is that the culture wars that intermittently dominated U.S. politics for much of two decades may well return. Technically, that's so because Republicans can now get legislation beloved of social conservatives scheduled for action in committees and on the Senate floor (if not necessarily onto the President's desk). Politically, what's happened is that the Cultural Right is having trouble remaining patiently quiet until a second George W. Bush term, when it has been promised the moon, or, more specifically, enough Supreme Court appointments to overturn abortion rights among other "liberal" abominations.

Not surprisingly, it's anti-abortion activists who are most impatient with the GOP. According to Robin Toner of The New York Times, they are demanding quick Congressional action on the ban on so-called "partial-birth" abortions, to be followed by other guerilla attacks on the margins of abortion rights, such as "making it a crime to evade parental notification laws by taking a minor across state lines for an abortion." A more direct and central attack on abortion rights, of course, cannot be launched so long as abortion opponents remain at least two Justices short on the Supreme Court of the votes to reverse Roe v. Wade.

It will be fascinating to see how President George W. Bush and the new Senate Republican Leader Bill Frist (R-TN) deal with these demands. Prompted by White House political czar Karl Rove, the GOP would love to postpone any high-profile debates in Congress which might remind swing voters that the Republican Party is joined at the hip with cultural extremists who would like to string up any doctor performing an abortion, and force by law women to carry a fetus to term even in cases of rape or incest. These embarrassing allies have essentially been locked in a closet since they helped save George W. Bush's bacon in the 2000 presidential primaries. Their re-emergence now might help knock the shaky props from the rickety edifice that is compassionate conservatism.

But while many Democrats will surreptitiously welcome a return to the Cultural Right's agenda, it will create a dilemma for them and their own culture-war allies as well.

Partly to disguise their more sinister aims, and partly out of political necessity, cultural conservatives have become very good at creating "issues" that attempt to make their opponents look as kooky as they are. This is much like the gun advocates who are forever coming up with legislative votes or popular referenda to lure gun control forces into the trap of appearing to oppose hunting. And abortion opponents are especially adept at tempting abortion rights advocates into defending every conceivable abortion; that's the political calculation behind the "partial birth" bans forever being proposed in Congress and in every state legislature. And many abortion rights groups have taken the bait, changing the definition of "pro-choice" to require absolute opposition to any restriction imaginable.

Pro-choice Americans and the pro-choice Democratic Party need to pass up the bait and keep the big picture in mind. The goal of anti-abortionists, and thus the obligation of the Republican Party that has benefited so richly from their time and treasure, is to reverse Roe v. Wade and deprive the women of this country of all right to choose.

Abortion is just one of the cultural issues that may re-emerge now that Republicans control both the White House and Congress, but it's critical Democrats remember how they managed to lose the center ground on such issues in the 2000 elections. Bill Clinton's position on abortion -- that it should be made "safe, legal and rare" -- commanded strong support from Americans who might be ambivalent or even negative on every marginal litmus test issue regarding abortion rights. Democrats would be smart to emulate Clinton's "values centrism" -- which took strong positions while working towards common ground with those who differed -- during the next two years. That's how you not only wage but win the next battles in the culture wars.