Party Leaders

Washington -- Being a superdelegate to this year's Democratic National Convention in Denver may not be so spectacular. In the past, the high-ranking elected officials and party officers, free to vote for whomever they wanted at the convention, were most notable for snagging invitations to the best receptions or securing prime seats on the floor. But it now looks as if the votes of 796 superdelegates may determine whether Barack Obama or Hillary Clinton becomes the party's standard bearer.

By now, it is a familiar script for Rep. Wayne T. Gilchrest: Every two years, as if on cue, fellow Republicans lambaste the 61-year-old former social studies teacher as too liberal. The label never sticks. The decorated former Marine Corps platoon leader has rarely broken a sweat as he ambles through GOP primaries in the 1st Congressional District. But this year, the chorus of opposition has been much louder - and better financed - than usual. Faced with challenges in Tuesday's primary from well-known state Sens.

The 2008 primaries have quickly shaped up as the most interesting in recent memory. Both parties' races are so tight and in flux that there is a chance in each party that no candidate will have captured enough votes to secure the nomination before the convention rolls around. This may be a far greater danger for the Democrats, because of a rule enacted by previous party leaders aimed at maintaining control over their presidential choice. In 2008, the result may be a Democratic convention choosing a nominee who lacks the legitimacy of being the "people's choice."

WASHINGTON -- Democrats plan to unveil a new surveillance proposal today, attempting to overhaul portions of a law that they passed under political pressure in August. To prevail, however, they must persuade liberal lawmakers and President Bush to accept the measure. With the 2008 campaign looming, Democratic leaders find themselves largely playing defense in this battle over controversial spy measures. They are trying to avoid both Republican attacks that they are promoting lax security laws and Democratic charges that they are caving in to Republican pressure.

WASHINGTON -- At the start of the week, it was unlikely that many people outside of Idaho and Washington, D.C., had heard of Sen. Larry E. Craig. But after Monday's disclosure of a guilty plea in a men's-room sex sting, Craig became the target of jokes - and a national embarrassment to a Republican Party facing a defining election next year. Craig is scheduled to announce his resignation today in Boise, Republican leaders told the Associated Press, after days of calls from high-profile Republicans that he step down.

The Maryland Republican Party, battered by severe losses in November's election, meets today to choose new leadership as members struggle over how to avoid slipping into another 30-year stretch of political futility. The retirement of party Chairman John Kane after a four-year term, Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr.'s failure to be re-elected, Lt. Gov. Michael S. Steele's defeat in his run for the U.S. Senate and the losses of several incumbent legislators have exposed a rift between those party faithful who see the need for no more than minor adjustments and others who blame the defeats on a leadership that needs a total overhaul.

Weep not for Howard County's Republican Party, its leaders say. The GOP may have suffered setbacks in last week's election -- losing the county executive race and an incumbent state Senate seat -- but party stalwarts are confident that they will do better next time, and for a specific reason. "I'm very confident in the incompetence of the Democrats," said Brian Harlin, outgoing Republican Party chairman, who expects taxes and spending to rise during the next four years. "If Democrats in this county do what I think they're going to do, we'll be OK."

WASHINGTON -- The Democratic takeover of the House of Representatives will elevate some Marylanders to more influential posts and could give Rep. Steny H. Hoyer a chance to become the No. 2 House leader.]-- But first Hoyer must overcome a challenge from a close ally of Rep. Nancy Pelosi of California, a Baltimore native who is all but certain to become the first woman speaker. Hoyer, first elected to Congress more than 25 years ago, is vying with Rep. John P. Murtha, a Pelosi loyalist from Pennsylvania, for the job of majority leader.

BAGHDAD, Iraq -- Leaders of Iraq's major political blocs announced a plan yesterday to create local committees of clerics, tribal leaders and military officers to help quell violence in the capital. The local committees, which would have no police powers, would work with Iraqi police to set up checkpoints and identify dangerous elements in the community, and advise officers on other security issues. The government also announced that a central committee for peace and security would monitor police performance in Baghdad's neighborhood and report abuses.

Baltimore City Councilwoman Agnes Welch has quietly stepped down as chairwoman of the city's Democratic Central Committee after serving in the party-rallying post for 23 years. Welch announced her retirement from the position shortly after she was re-elected as a committee member in the Sept. 12 primary. In letters last week to other committee members and state senators, she wrote that she would not seek the chairmanship, which is decided by an internal vote by the panel's 42 unpaid elected members.