Now that Democrats have gained control of the Senate for the first time in seven years, it is time for them stop being weasels and aggressively carve out a progressive domestic agenda that rebuffs George W. Bush's Right-wing tilt. In the process, they should borrow a page from Republicans by playing political hardball instead of wimping out on crucial issues as they've done in the past.

The political shakeup in the Senate has enormous implications for Black America. With a conservative U.S. Supreme Court and the White House and House of Representatives controlled by Republicans too conservative for some members of their own party, the Senate is the last line of protection from a Right-wing onslaught. This will be particularly important in the upcoming confirmation hearings for 100 federal judges, all of whom receive lifetime appointments.

The question yet to be answered is: Do Democrats have the backbone to act like traditional Democrats and not Republican clones?

In recent years, many Democrats have sat passively on the sidelines as Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott of Mississippi and his wrecking crew, sometimes with the help of the Clinton administration, destroyed many of the social programs designed to help the poor and people of color. Longtime curmudgeon Jesse Helms of North Carolina single-handedly blocked the nominations of African-American judges to the 4th Circuit Court of Appeals and held American foreign policy hostage at will.

It was difficult for Republican to chastise Jeffords for switching parties when some of their own members had been recruited to join the GOP. Among those who have defected from being Democrats to Republicans: Strom Thurmond of South Carolina, Phil Gramm of Texas, Richard Shelby of Alabama and Ben Nighthorse Campbell of Colorado.

With Senator James Jeffords of Vermont switching from being a Republican to an independent, there was an immediate shift of power in the upper chamber. Helms was replaced as head of the Foreign Relations Committee by Joseph Biden Jr. of Delaware. Patrick Leahy, also from Vermont, replaces ultra-conservative Orrin G. Hatch of Utah as leader of the important Judiciary Committee. And Edward M. Kennedy will chair the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions committee.

Jeffords' defection leaves the Democrats with a 50-49 edge and the prospect of another Republican, Strom Thurmond, retiring at the age of 98 now that the Senate has been lost to the Democrats; he will be replaced by a Democrat. The new majority leaders will still have to scramble for votes because some in their ranks, such as Zell Miller of Georgia, routinely vote with Republicans.

"What does not change with this new balance of power is the need for principled compromise," incoming Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle of South Dakota told reporters. "This is still one of the most closely divided Senates in all of our history."

Even so, being in the majority allows Democrats to chair all committees, have a slim majority on each panel and control the legislative agenda. Issues that were not on Bush's legislative list now will receive top priority under Democrats. Those issues include a patients' bill of rights, increasing the minimum wage, dealing with prescription drugs benefits, increasing school spending and taking a different approach to environmental protection.

The loss of power in the Senate is also forcing the Republicans for re-examine their style of governing. That could also be good news for African-Americans. There will be increased pressure on George W. Bush to move toward the centrist positions that were the hallmark of his campaign for president but not his administration.

One Republican moderate, Olympia J. Snowe of Maine, says, "We can't bury our heads in the sand about why this happened."

Even as they were losing their clout in the Senate, some Republicans were making it clear that they are not going quietly into the night.

Placing his spin on recent events, Senator Hatch mentioned Bush's veto power. "On the chessboard, your agenda can be advanced more with a president and a minority in the Senate," the Utah Republican contends. Does he really expect us to believe that? I was born at night, but not last night.

Republican Senator Richard Shelby of Alabama points to the next Congressional election. "This might galvanize Republicans," he says. "This might help us in a year and a half." Yeah, right.

This feeble and transparent attempt by Republicans to portray their Senate downfall as a good thing reminds me of the comments made by my high school and college football coaches. "It's not whether you win or lose but how you play the game," they would tell us. What they didn't say was: How you play the game determines whether you win or lose. Republicans have to accept reality: They have lost. And Democrats need to act like have they won and stop being weasels.