Washington – It has been eight months since Nancy Pelosi was sworn in as Speaker of the House and Harry Reid took the gavel as Senate Majority Leader. Now, as Congress returns from its annual August recess, politicians and talking heads alike are looking back in amazement at how life in Washington has changed since the Democrats took over.

But it is not just Washington that has changed. The reverberations from last November’s stunning Democrat victory are being felt across the country, and around the world.

For this special Cover Story, America Weakly traveled thousands of miles, conducted dozens of interviews, and sought out professional politicians and regular Americans alike, all to answer a misleadingly simple-sounding question: how have the Democrats done?

Six years ago, President Bush entered office promising to be a uniter, not a divider. The Democrats claimed he was lying, and to their credit, they made no such promises themselves. Reducing the partisan rancor in Washington was simply never part of their agenda.

“We’re not here to make friends,” Speaker Pelosi said shortly after the 2006 election. “We’re here to put the brakes on the President, and we’ll use every means necessary to do it.”

That was certainly a promise kept. Since taking control, Democrats have deep-sixed virtually every proposal that ever came near the White House.

“It’s been amazing,” political analyst Phillip Kass said. “If it even had a whiff of White House approval, it didn’t come to the floor.”

Indeed, some of the President’s long-term pet projects are now dying quiet deaths thanks to Democratic control of the government’s purse strings.

A year ago, after North Korea successfully tested a missile with the ability to reach the continental United States, the President ordered the activation of the nation’s first-ever missile defense system. Today, that system sits deactivated and being dismantled, one of the first programs to fall to the Democratic axe.

“Madeleine Albright showed you can deal with the North Koreans,” Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Joe Biden said. “Remember her visit with Kim Jong Il in 2000, when she gave him a basketball signed by Michael Jordan? That shows the kind of open dialogue between responsible leaders we need, not expensive technology to stop their missiles.”

Some of the programs closest to Bush’s heart are the ones the Democrats went after with the most energy.

“We needed to show who’s in charge now,” explained House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Charlie Rangel. “That’s why I put an end to funding for the faith-based program. I sent a message to the President: there’s a new Congress in town.”

It’s not just about legislation. Confirmations for Presidential appointments have ground to a halt. Everyone knows about the 4-4 Supreme Court, but Democrats have put the kibosh on lower court nominees as well, not to mention administration appointees. The UN ambassadorship as well remains vacant after former Ambassador John Bolton’s recess appointment expired in January 2007.

Some government analysts have expressed concern about leaving so many offices in Washington empty, and Democrats admit that it’s not an ideal situation. But, they say, it’s better than the alternative.

“Behind closed doors, maybe a few members of the caucus admit that they’re uncomfortable with such major vacancies at the Supreme Court and the UN,” one leadership aide, who agreed to speak only on background, said. “But as a whole, the caucus understands that this is about showing the President exactly who’s in charge now. The President needs to understand that if we don’t have a role in choosing appointees, or if we don’t like them, they won’t be confirmed. There’s a new sheriff in town.”

On other issues, however, the new Congress has run into the limitations that come with only controlling one branch of government.

“We know that this is just the first step,” Pelosi said. “There are things we have the power to do, like refusing to reauthorize the PATRIOT Act or defunding the NSA unless it stops its domestic spying. But to make this revolution complete, we need to win back the White House in 2008.”

She listed examples of bills passed under the new Democrat majorities but vetoed or under veto threats by the President, including repeals of the 2001 and 2003 tax cuts and of class action and bankruptcy legislation passed in 2005.

“We’re learning the limitations of just holding Congress,” she explained. “For example, we stopped the energy proposals, but we couldn’t get a veto-proof majority to pass a BTU tax or a gas tax that would only cost families $900 a year. So on energy, we’re just going to end up doing nothing. Of course, that’s far better than letting the President’s disastrous plans come to a vote.”

The Democrats have been stymied as well on their attempts to close the Guantanamo Bay terrorist prison facility, and to revisit the Kyoto Treaty provisions.

Some Democrats, however, are not concerned with legislative setbacks.

“Sure, it might be nice if we passed some of our own bills,” one Democrat leadership aide said. “But legislative achievement isn’t what we’re after. Stopping the President is what we’re after – and we’re doing it.”

The reality is that despite some setbacks, the entire political landscape has changed. America is radically different than it was just eight months ago. And even outside of Washington, regular Americans are sitting up and taking notice.

“It’s about time,” Judy Smith-Walker, a New York graphic designer said. “Go into any coffee shop here and you’ll hear people saying the same thing: we finally feel like the government is one we can understand.”

Stefan, a 28-year-old full time student in San Francisco, agrees, adding that he feels that the Democrats’ priorities more closely match most Americans. “Ask around,” he said. “No one here is talking about a so-called War on Terror or how many dividends corporate America can show. We want Washington dealing with real issues, like stopping animal testing, or ending the Cuba embargo, or finally passing a good, Canadian-style health care system.”

Single-payer health care hasn’t come up yet (though Health Subcommittee Chairman Pete Stark is rumored to be working on a bill), but it is clear that many Americans now believe that anything is possible. The mood in the country has changed.

“The last six years have been so horrible,” aspiring Hollywood screenwriter Rex Star told us. “All Washington could talk about was terrorism and homeland security. Now we don’t talk about those things any more, and so the country is happier. Any writer will tell you: depressing doesn’t sell.”