THE 50 MOST POWERFUL PEOPLE IN D.C.

[CatWoman]

1. CONDOLEEZZA RICE
52
Secretary of State

This wasn’t an easy choice for #1, since there’s no telling if Cheney will once again commandeer our foreign policy (as he did with Iraq) before leaving office. But Rice, the ultimate yes-woman as national-security adviser, has become a much needed check on the Office of the Vice President. Like Colin Powell, her predecessor at State, she now recognizes the pomposity of “with us or against us” and the value in talking to one’s enemies. But the difference between her and Powell is: The president trusts her. “Her power derives from her relationship with the president,” says Mark Halperin, political analyst at Time and ABC News. “They have a personal and professional bond that has allowed her to win plenty of internal battles,” Overtures to Iran, Syria, North Korea… If it weren’t for Condi, they would most likely never have happened. Whatever hope we have of not going to war with Iran before the end of Bush’s term rests largely with her.

2. HARRY REID
67
Senate Majority Leader

He could choose his words more carefully—and put away the cots—but his knowledge of Senate rules and his ability to keep Democrats (Democrats!) aligned make him a far more imposing majority leader than Bill Frist ever was.

3. ROBERT GATES
63
Secretary of Defense

“He is the most important personnel change this administration has made in terms of foreign policy and national security,” says Leslie Gelb, president emeritus of the Council on Foreign Relations. He’s won a wide fan base at the Pentagon and across the aisle, he serves as a counterbalance to Cheney, and he consistently warns against military adventurism. “He’s conservative and quite pragmatic,” Gelb continues. “The way Rumsfeld used to be.”

4. JUSTICE ANTHONY KENNEDY
71
Supreme Court Justice

In the past twenty-four cases that have resulted in a 5-4 voting split, Kennedy was in the majority every single time. That means in cases that forced the EPA to take global warming more seriously, undid key parts of Brown v. Board of Education, put the screws to campaign-finance reform, and made “Bong Hits 4 Jesus” unprotected speech in schools, he cast the deciding vote.

5. NANCY PELOSI
67
Speaker of the House

She can claim the minimum-wage hike, a decent ethics package, new transparency rules for earmarks, and the Democrats’ remarkable cohesiveness—the average Dem votes with the party 93 percent of the time—as true victories. But the real test will be getting Bush to swallow a timetable for withdrawal.

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