McCain Could Be Hurdle No. 1

When defeated by Bush for the GOP presidential nomination, the Arizona senator promised "blood on the Senate floor" over his personal No. 1 issue, campaign-finance reform.

As a Washington Times analysis of the closely divided new Congress sees it:

With a Republican in the White House next year, Democrats on Capitol Hill are far less likely to attempt a filibuster than they would with a member of their own party in the "bully pulpit."

Nor do early indications point to the Democratic leadership in either house taking a doctrinaire, dog-in-the manger stance toward a Bush presidency during those crucial initial days.

McCain is the one who is determined to get what he wants – campaign-finance reform – no matter what.

It is an issue on which McCain and Bush were hotly at odds during the primary elections. Regardless of whether it commands overwhelming interest among most Americans, McCain is fixated upon it.

And he does pick up support for his position among some members of Congress from both parties.

While McCain continues to hang tough on reforming campaign financing, some key Democratic leaders in Congress are sending signals they are willing to compromise with Bush, if he becomes president, on some of his key campaign commitments.

Tax cuts, for instance.

"We're going to compromise," said House Minority Leader Richard A. Gephardt. "Whoever is president, we're going to have a tax cut."

Instead of rejecting out of hand Bush's proposed $1.3 billion across-the-board tax cut, as he did during the presidential campaign, Gephardt was open to a compromise tax cut of $500 million to $1 billion.

New York Rep. Charles B. Rangel echoed the emphasis on cooperation.

"Bush's problem won't be working with Democrats," Rangel said, referring to House of Representatives Speaker J. Dennis Hastert and House Majority Leader Dick Armey. "We can get along."

He did say that Bush, as well as Democrats, is likely to have trouble working with House Majority Whip Tom DeLay, who Rangel said "takes no prisoners."

But those close to DeLay dismiss that as without foundation.

One of DeLay's allies said privately he is confident that DeLay and other conservatives in Congress will "learn from Bush and find unifying ways to portray things without giving up our principles or alienating our constituents back home."

And Rep. Jennifer Dunn, R-Wash., said that "DeLay knows how to work things out. He will always push for a conservative agenda, but if you look at the legislative agenda in the last two years, you'll see he got bipartisan sponsorships for the top 10 bills."

Republican lawmakers and aides say the leadership in both chambers has been identifying measures that "don't require a lot of heavy lifting" and can be sent to the White House for signature within the first 100 days.

They cite three bills that have already passed both houses but were vetoed by President Clinton: ending the inheritance tax and the "marriage penalty" and a ban on partial-birth abortion.

They feel Bush could build on such an agenda and achieve it in the first six to nine months.

The main speed bump in Bush's path to an early productive session of the new Congress remains McCain, who is committed to making campaign-finance reform the first order of business in the new Senate.

According to McCain's strategist in the presidential campaign, John Weaver, "The Senate is going to bring up campaign finance reform and will have enough votes to defeat cloture."