Politics

Congress has so few moderate Republicans that at least in the Senate they could squeeze into a Volkswagen Beetle. Their ranks have dwindled in recent elections. Those who remain in politics have been marginalized by their own party, which has inexorably veered to the right over the last generation. But this beleaguered minority has an opportunity to wield outsized influence on what President-elect Barack Obama can accomplish in Congress.

Frustrated that years of financing studies and demonstration projects have not translated into widespread improvement in medicine, California philanthropic foundations and think tanks are shedding their traditionally detached stances to crusade for healthcare reform in the state Capitol and in Congress.

Despite Barack Obama's decision to include as much as $100 billion in business tax breaks to his economic stimulus package to woo reluctant Republicans, obstacles to speedy, bipartisan passage remain. The president-elect began working Monday in pursuit of twin goals -- reviving the economy and transforming the political climate in Washington -- by including GOP leaders in his first round of Capitol Hill meetings since the election. He pitched the need to act fast and with a broad consensus.

Bill Richardson's sudden exit from the future Barack Obama administration delivered dual blows to his role as the nation's leading Latino political figure and to his foundation that funds Latino political causes, political experts said Monday. The New Mexico governor, who had been on track to be the next secretary of Commerce, cited a federal investigation into state business for his withdrawal, saying it "would have forced an untenable delay in the confirmation process."

Long considered one of the nation's most polarizing figures, Hillary Rodham Clinton steps into her new role as America's chief diplomat this week with a Senate confirmation hearing that is likely to look more like a tribute than an examination of a controversial politician. Clinton has fanned political passions as first lady, as New York's junior senator and as a presidential candidate.

House Republicans have looked to an unlikely place for a fresh face to help lead them out of the political wilderness, tapping Rep. Kevin McCarthy from solidly Democratic California as their chief deputy whip. Officially, the Bakersfield lawmaker -- who has ascended to a party leadership post after only one term in Congress -- will be responsible for helping Republican Whip Eric Cantor of Virginia plot the GOP response to the Democratic majority's legislative agenda.

Barack Obama walked the halls of the Senate for four years, and in his earliest decisions after the presidential election assembled a coterie of key advisors with deep roots in Congress. He is the first president elected directly from Congress since John F. Kennedy -- leading to high expectations that he would know how to handle congressional egos.

As Barack Obama builds his administration and prepares to take office next week, his political team is quietly planning for a nationwide hiring binge that would marshal an army of full-time organizers to press the new president's agenda and lay the foundation for his reelection. The organization, known internally as "Barack Obama 2.

In the darkened living room of a house surrounded by concrete barriers, Safaa Mamouri wipes his eyes and reproaches himself for how little he resembles his dead brother, a man even his enemies admired. "Qais was fearless. I'm not like him," he says. "From the first threat, I quit." Maj. Gen. Qais Hamza Mamouri presided over security here in Babil province at a dangerous time, when the country's sectarian war raged.

As Barack Obama and his fellow Democrats celebrate their political ascendancy, Dianne Feinstein is front and center. And that is not always a welcome thing for members of her own party. In recent days Feinstein has sent an unmistakable signal to the president-elect and the rest of Washington: California's senior senator will not be taken for granted or hew to the party line simply because that might seem proper at the rosy dawn of a new Democratic era.