Deciding which size is the best fit: In a matter of weeks, the 2014 election cycle will begin with candidates filing for county, state and federal offices. In North Carolina, the stakes couldn't be higher. The re-election bid of freshman Democratic Sen. Kay Hagan will help.

• Author: Hood, John
• Position: FREE&CLEAR

decide whether her party will retain control of the U.S. Senate. The re-election bid of southeastern North Carolina's Democratic congressman, Mike McIntyre, will help determine the fate of the Republican majority in the U.S. House. At the state level, the GOP's large General Assembly majorities will answer to voters after two years of momentous legislation and raucous debate. Even local races will draw unprecedented attention, given that it will be the first time since Reconstruction that Republicans will be in a position to re-elect majorities on most of the state's county boards of commissioners.

If the past is any guide, the next few months of political journalism about the 2014 midterms will feature extensive coverage of the operational aspects of campaigns: candidate recruitment, fundraising, independent expenditures, grassroots organization, social media and broadcast advertising. I'll be a frequent consumer and sometime producer of such punditry.

At its core, the 2014 election cycle promises to be a clash of philosophies about the role of government. For those who believe that enlarging it is the best way to solve problems, President Barack Obama's health-care law is a welcome reform destined to produce not only broader access to better, more affordable medical care but also electoral benefits for those who support it. And for those who believe that reducing the size, scope and cost of government is the best way to promote economic growth, the policy mix enacted by the state legislature in the last three years is destined to produce not only greater employment and higher household incomes but also electoral benefits for those who supported it.

How can ideas that seem so opposed coexist in the same political system? Because in the minds of many voters, they aren't opposites. Unless you are an anarchist, you probably believe that government has an important role to play in daily life. And unless you are a college professor, you probably believe that expansive plans for government often go awry because they ignore human nature, the need for individual incentive to produce and excel and the impossibility of central planners to acquire the information necessary to out-guess the market.

As has so often been pointed out, politics is like football. Successful teams combine a ground game (getting your partisan base out), a passing game (broadcasting your message to swing voters) and a strong defense (rebutting the other side's attacks with...