So-called moderate Republicans were almost wiped out of the mid-Atlantic and New England in the 2006 midterm elections. Now the remaining ‘moderates’ are singing another tune, and claiming they always wanted to be moderate, but the big bad Republican leadership wouldn’t let them. Case in point: Mike Ferguson (R-NJ-07).

If the Democratic ascendance on Capitol Hill was supposed to usher in dark days for Republicans, it is hard to tell from talking to moderate ones like Mike Ferguson, who represents a suburban district in central New Jersey.

As the new Democrat-led House rushed to complete its business before adjourning for spring break this week, Representative Ferguson was marveling at the many bills that had been passed in Congress’s first 100 days, including one that would make it easier for unions to organize and another that would increase the minimum wage.

“Under the Republican majority, those bills would have never gotten to the floor,” he explained before heading back to his district. “Now they have been brought to the floor, and I’ve voted for them.”

Mr. Ferguson’s enthusiasm captures a peculiar political reality in the Capitol: many Republicans from swing districts in the Northeast are finding that life under Democratic rule has its advantages.

During the 12 years that Republicans controlled the House, moderate Republicans were the stepchildren of their party, expected to vote with their conservative leadership on crucial issues, even if it meant taking positions that could anger centrist voters back home.

In fact, the Democrats made some of their deepest inroads last year in the Northeast. A total of 10 Republican incumbents in the House were defeated in four states — New Hampshire, Connecticut, New York and Pennsylvania — where the challengers aggressively tried to tie the incumbents to President Bush and his conservative allies on the Hill.

Now, with those losses still fresh in their minds, Republican moderates remaining in the House are vowing to pursue their centrist positions more assertively, even if it means endorsing Democratic initiatives.

In particular, the GOP moderates are interested in working with the Democrats on global warming. And they want to build a reputation for bipartisanship to distance themselves from George W. Bush. Ironically, their cooperation gives us more power but makes them harder to beat.

The best thing for these Republicans would be a Guiliani presidential run. Romney would work for them too. The last thing they need is another southern culture candidate that runs on an ultra-partisan platform. McCain seem unable to articulate the clean-break (from Bush/DeLayism) that the moderates need to survive.