Who are the key players on Capitol Hill?
If you want to know how the tax cut is faring, keep an eye on four senators. Lincoln Chafee of Rhode Island: Newly elected from a heavily Democratic state, Republican Chafee thinks the Bush tax cut is too big. GOP leaders already figure they’ve lost liberal Republican Jim Jeffords of Vermont. But if they can turn Chafee, the President could be in for a big win. Ben Nelson of Nebraska: The mirror image of Chafee, he’s a freshman Democrat from a Republican state. My BusinessWeek colleague Rick Dunham has dubbed him “half-Nelson,” since he’s likely to vote with his party only 50% of the time. Georgia’s Zell Miller has already endorsed the Bush tax cut. Dems can’t afford to lose Nelson as well. John McCain of Arizona: Fresh from a huge Senate win on campaign-finance reform, McCain could be a wild card in the tax debate. Democrats hope that he could put together a centrist coalition in favor of a scaled-down tax cut. Strom Thurmond of South Carolina: The 98-year-old dean of the Senate is in
