Senate moderates chopped in half President Bush's second-largest tax cut. And they helped derail energy legislation, one of the president's top domestic priorities.

The open question is whether moderates will continue to hold decisive votes in the Senate, where a minority can still block legislation, after Republicans strengthened their hold on Congress and the White House in the Nov. 2 election.

U.S. Sens. Olympia Snowe and Susan Collins, both R-Maine, say they expect their roles to remain pivotal in what has been a bitterly divided chamber.

"I don't see how that dynamic changes," Snowe said. "I think everybody is trying to get their sea legs about how we're going to proceed."

Even though Republicans gained four seats in the Senate, their total of 55 leaves them a handful short of the 60 votes needed to end debate on any controversial bill or nomination.

"Sixty is still the magic number for getting major legislation through the Senate," Collins said. "As long as that's the case, the moderates are going to play a key role in bridging the partisan divide and helping to come up with compromises that will allow the president to get some version of his agenda through."

Democrats are counting on them. U.S. Sen. Byron Dorgan of North Dakota, head of the Democratic Policy Committee, says moderates will remain important in legislative negotiations.

"There are a pretty aggressive number in the Republican conference who want to make their presence felt," Dorgan said. "I think they will continue to have an important role in trying to help find compromises."

Grover Norquist, who as president of Americans for Tax Reform advocates a more conservative agenda than moderates embrace, cast no aspersions against Snowe and Collins.

"The two senators from Maine are great assets to the Republican Party and we look forward to working with them on moving the president's agenda forward to make the country richer, better, more secure," Norquist said.

In a Senate with 51 Republicans, 48 Democrats and an independent, the moderates were pivotal on some major

decisions.

When Bush proposed a $726 billion tax cut, Snowe was among a crucial few lawmakers who insisted on limiting the final amount to the $350 billion that Congress ultimately approved.

When the showdown arrived last November over the energy bill that critics considered too supportive of fossil-fuel development, Snowe and Collins joined a Democratic filibuster to block the bill.

A BIPARTISAN GOAL

Now, Bush aims to reform a complex tax code that he called a "mess" and Social Security, which is threatened in future years with insolvency. Snowe and Collins say the key to dealing with such controversial subjects will be to reach across the aisle and bipartisan compromise.

"It seems to me that if you're close to reaching your goal, that would be a time to reach across party lines to demonstrate a governing majority," Snowe said. "There's no question about the difficulty of navigating these difficult political waters."

Collins says on environmental issues, where northeastern Republicans sometimes differ with Bush, the filibuster will be effective.

"I think, for example, that those on the House side who have wanted an energy bill that in my judgment is tilted in terms of consumption and production, as opposed to conservation, which is my preference, are undoubtedly strengthened by the election results," Collins said. "But I don't think the election results have really changed the dynamic in the Senate."

Snowe and Collins joined the filibuster against the energy bill because of a provision to protect the makers of the gas additive MTBE from lawsuits about water pollution. Republican leaders could muster only 57 votes to end debate.

But Republicans swept the South, taking seats that had been held by departing Democrats in North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Florida and Louisiana. The changes replace at least three Democratic opponents to the energy bill with three Republican supporters.

The additional Republicans could possibly add a provision to open Alaska's Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to drilling. Negotiators kept drilling in the refuge out of the compromise legislation because it got only 48 votes in the Senate.

FILIBUSTER BACKLASH

Uncertainty over the filibuster focuses on how much the Democrats will attempt it. Republicans already complain that Democratic filibusters against judicial nominations are unprecedented, with 10 nominees blocked and another five threatened.

Blocking multiple pieces of legislation with the same strategy could backfire. Minority Leader Tom Daschle, D-S.D., became the only Senate incumbent to lose his seat this year - and the first party leader in 50 years - after a campaign that branded him an obstructionist to Republican priorities.

U.S. Sen. Blanche Lincoln of Arkansas, the only Senate Democrat to win in the South on Nov. 2, argues that Congress must learn to work better because Americans see partisan discord as unproductive.

"There is a tremendous amount of division out there," Lincoln said. "When you talk to people, whether they're Democrats or Republicans, they know we've been pretty nonproductive up here."

Controlling the Senate dominated analysis after the election.

Al From, founder and chief executive officer of the Democratic Leadership Council, the group that propelled Bill Clinton to the White House, framed the problem as a lack of national message. Democrats didn't compete with Bush in 23 states, and 39 of those 46 senators are Republicans, he says.

"That puts us in a real hole if we want to control the Senate over the long haul," From said. "Competing nationally encourages you to have a national message that has broader appeal."

Against this backdrop, Democrats struggled with their next move. Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., and the party's presidential nominee, argued that the 55 million Americans who voted for him favor energy independence, more medical research on stem cells and protecting Social Security.

"We need to be unified and we need to have a very clear agenda," Kerry said. "And I'm going to be fighting for that agenda with all the passion I brought to the campaign."

Kerry met in the Capitol with the congressional minority leaders, Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., and Rep. Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif. They offered no comment yet about their strategy.

"We've got a lot to talk about," Kerry said.

Staff Writer Bart Jansen can be contacted at 202-488-1119 or at: bjansen@pressherald.com