The Up-And-Comers

By Perry Bacon Jr., Massimo Calabresi

BARACK OBAMA

The Illinois Democrat rode into town with a halo and has worked hard ever since to prove he's a mere mortal. Obama, 44, has focused on important but low-profile issues, such as making sure the U.S. is prepared for an outbreak of avian flu and securing nuclear-weapon stockpiles in the former Soviet Union. He has reached so often across the aisle on, say, controlling Katrina spending, that some Democrats complain he won't be their firebrand.

LINDSEY GRAHAM

Replacing South Carolina's aged Strom Thurmond, Republican Graham, 50, was every bit the contrast--boyish, fast talking and a maverick. He hit the national stage as a House manager in the impeachment of Bill Clinton, but in the Senate he has bucked the Bush White House on its treatment of detainees and no-warrant wiretapping. He's effective, pushing through a bill last year to expand health care for the Guard and the Reserve. But his strength is stepping up to a big moral issue, like how far to go in the war on terrorism, and making his voice heard.

HILLARY CLINTON

The record of candidate Clinton may be controversial, but in her six short years New York Democratic Senator Clinton, 58, has earned respect from both parties. Assigned to the Armed Services Committee, she has mastered issues like how to retain Guard and Reserve troops, pushed through legislation educating military families on insurance scams and funded measures to help supply flu vaccine. She has also leveraged her national clout to spotlight important terrorism issues with narrow followings--like the vulnerability of nuclear plants.

JOHN E. SUNUNU

Only 41 years old, the New Hampshire Republican is the youngest member of the Senate, but that hasn't limited his reach. Sununu played a major role this year on the lobbying-reform legislation, and he got the Bush Administration to make some crucial changes in the Patriot Act before he voted to reauthorize it. The son of former White House chief of staff John H. Sununu, he has become a well-respected fiscal conservative, last fall calling for cuts in nearly every part of the budget to offset spending for Hurricane Katrina.

MARK PRYOR

The scion of a popular Democratic Arkansas political family, Pryor, 43, made his mark in 2005, supplanting old-timers like Joe Lieberman and Robert Byrd to take a leading role in the centrist "Gang of 14" that defused the crisis over judicial filibusters. He impressed Senate watchers by his ability to keep Democratic leader Harry Reid fully informed and happy at the same time. Watch for Pryor, who voted with President Bush 58% of the time in 2005, to emerge as a key swing vote and voice for Third Way Democrats.