With incumbents toppling and party establishments cracking, there is talk of November being a "reform" election. Don't be fooled: There is political reform and there is Political Reform. Political reform with a small "r" comes and goes on tiny politicians' feet. Big-R Reform changes the nation.

The aim of small "r" reform is to slow or kill Big-R Reform. When President Obama proposes, as he did this week, some version of the line-tem veto, that is small-r reform. When Andrew Cuomo announces his candidacy...