Centrist

WASHINGTON - For the second presidential election in a row, the Democratic Party has found itself on the short end of a nail-biting finish. This time, it cannot console itself, as in 2000, that its nominee won the popular vote but got robbed by a 5-4 vote of a Republican-dominated Supreme Court. Sen. John Kerry's loss to President Bush by more than 3.5 million popular votes, despite a record Democratic turnout effort, took any ambiguity out of the result and left Kerry's party once again asking: What happened, and where are we now?

ARLINGTON, Va. - With no victories after last night's round of Democratic contests and a centrist message that held little attraction for primary voters, Connecticut Sen. Joseph I. Lieberman ended his presidential bid last night, saying he would continue to "fight for the causes we campaigned for." "Am I disappointed? Naturally," he told supporters who crowded into a small hotel ballroom here, some hugging each other in consolation. "Am I proud of what we stood for in this campaign? You bet I am."

WASHINGTON - Sen. John B. Breaux of Louisiana, a rare centrist Democrat in an increasingly polarized Congress, announced yesterday that he would not seek re-election next year. That makes Breaux the fifth Southern Democrat to step down in 2004 rather than run again in a region that has been increasingly inhospitable to his party. Breaux would have been a shoo-in for re-election, and his decision to forgo a fourth term complicates Democrats' efforts to capture control of the Senate. Republicans now hold a 51-48 majority, with one Democrat-leaning independent.

BURLINGTON, Vt. -- When presidential candidate Howard Dean addressed the nation's Democratic mayors earlier this year, he began by stating the obvious. "Most of you don't know me," the former Vermont governor said with the directness that is his style. "My state is actually smaller than most of your cities." After a year of campaigning, Dean, 54, is still an obscure politician from a thinly populated place. But he has become a force to be reckoned with in the presidential contest. In the process, he has rattled the party establishment and his rivals with his sharp elbows and tongue.

WASHINGTON - President Bush is flush with opportunity. He's riding high in the polls, his party controls both chambers of Congress, and his Democratic critics are struggling to find a coherent message. Once Congress convenes next month, the president will throw his weight behind an ambitious agenda. His top priorities include reforming welfare, Medicare and Social Security, opening federal funding to religious groups, and carrying out new and deeper tax cuts. Today in Philadelphia, Bush will give his first speech in months dedicated solely to domestic policy - a sign that he learned from the mistake of his father, who ignored issues at home as he waged a war abroad.

WASHINGTON -- Like a dateless and desperate guy who's calling up a girlfriend about two years late, Al Gore finally is expressing something approaching serious interest in the issue of single-payer health care. Better late than never. How much better? That remains to be seen. Before we can examine Mr. Gore's plan, he has to come up with one. For the moment, it's enough that he's put the issue on the table. Health care, like the economy and the environment, is one of the big issues to which polls show most voters look to Democrats for the best answers.

WASHINGTON -- It didn't take long after their election-night setback for the Democrats to resurrect their internal debate over the direction of their party. The immediate resignation of Rep. Richard Gephardt of Missouri as House Democratic Leader opened the door to a fight for his job between his chief deputy, liberal Rep. Nancy Pelosi of California, and centrist Rep. Martin Frost of Texas. When Ms. Pelosi quickly garnered heavy support, Mr. Frost dropped out, but Rep. Harold Ford of Tennessee, a 32-year-old third-termer, jumped in as the moderate alternative.

WASHINGTON - With the help of some centrist Democrats, the White House and Congress struck a budget deal yesterday that would boost federal spending more than President Bush wanted and cut taxes less than he proposed but would give Bush most of what he pushed for. While nonbinding, the annual budget blueprint, which both the House and Senate are expected to approve today, carries more weight than it has in some years because one party - the Republicans -...

WASHINGTON - In sharp contrast to his campaign to court Democrats, President Bush and his Republican allies on Capitol Hill are preparing to ram the first critical portion of his tax cut plan through the House today on a largely party line vote. Republican leaders say that speedy House action on Bush's plan for broad tax rate cuts will strengthen the president's hand for the battle ahead in the evenly divided Senate, where he faces resistance from a few in his own party as well as from nearly all Democrats.

WASHINGTON - With most Democrats vigorously dissenting, the Senate confirmed the nomination of John Ashcroft to be attorney general yesterday, giving President Bush a staunch conservative to serve as his administration's top legal officer. The 58-42 vote, in which just eight of 50 Democrats joined all 50 Republicans in favor of their former Senate colleague, completes the installation of Bush's Cabinet and concludes the most divisive debate of his young presidency. But Democrats said the closeness of the vote should serve as a warning to Bush against nominating other highly conservative figures to major posts.