It's a cliché to call an election-year Congress do-nothing. The history doesn't match

President Biden's State of the Union address gave a lift to his poll numbers, especially on his handling of Ukraine. But while that crisis continues to occupy center stage, the White House is hoping some of the spirit of unity it has instilled can also help revive his domestic agenda.

That means restarting the engines on a convoy of major bills now stalled shy of passage in the Senate.

And it means overcoming the sense that Congress cannot get much done – or at least cannot take big or politically risky steps – in an election year.

It's easy to point to examples of past efforts that proved fruitless as members turned their attention all but exclusively to their reelection. The variables affecting what happens in an election year are more complicated than in non-election years.

But there's no law against making laws in an election year. There are special challenges, to be sure,