New dealmakers on Capitol Hill

As an all-out war of rhetoric over judges plays out on the Senate floor, a shifting coalition of moderates, mavericks, and Senate traditionalists is working every angle to find a way out.

Days after their leaders declared an end to negotiations - no deal, no truce - they are deep into an exercise in building trust at a time when many of their colleagues are preaching scorched-earth politics.

They meet quietly, alternating Senate offices or exchanging words in the hall, in search of a compromise to avoid a bitter party-line vote next week over the so-called "nuclear option" - a rule change that they say will undermine the character of the Senate long into the future.

While elements of a deal have leaked out of these talks, the details are still in flux. They include an agreement by at least six Republicans to vote down the GOP leadership's proposed rule change on filibusters. In exchange, at least six Democrats would agree to allow some number of the blocked Bush nominees to come to a floor vote.

A key addition: Democrats would also agree not to support a filibuster against future Bush judicial nominees, including for the Supreme Court, except under "extraordinary circumstances" - a phrase that's been tough to nail down.

If the bid succeeds, it means Democrats can no longer use the filibuster as weapon of choice in defeating Bush nominations. And Republicans can't succeed in eliminating it. It also opens these moderates to the wrath of outside interest groups aligned on both sides of the judges' fight - and already running ads against senators standing outside party lines. There may also be reprisals within party ranks.

"It's a dramatic story of a group of centrists trying to influence politics in a polarized age," says Julian Zelizer, a historian of Congress at Boston University.

Some, like GOP Sens. John McCain of Arizona and Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, have stood together against their party's establishment on issues ranging from McCain's 2000 presidential run to abuse at Baghdad's Abu Ghraib prison.

Others, like Sens. Susan Collins (R) of Maine and Joseph Lieberman (D) of Connecticut, typically work outside the partisan red-blue zone. As chair and ranking member of the recently renamed Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, they forged one of the most durable partnerships in the Senate.

Another important element in the compromise coalition are Senate traditionalists, like Sen. John Warner (R) of Virginia, who don't want to see the Senate fall into the partisan folkways of the highly disciplined House of Representatives. Fifty-two members of the current Senate have experience in the House, the highest since Senate historians have kept records.

"Over time, a lot of the older traditionalists have left," says Donald Ritchie, associate Senate historian. When liberal Democrats tried to change the filibuster rule in the 1950s, only about a third of the Senate had House experience. "The voters have elected a very different kind of senator, and the institution hasn't figured out how to adapt to this," he says.

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