BATTLE FOR THE HILL

o ILLINOIS/SENATE

Man of the Moment

If other Democrats shared more of Barack Obama's good fortune, they would have a better chance of recapturing the Senate. First, his G.O.P. opponent, Jack Ryan, dropped out after revelations of his alleged visits to sex clubs. Then Ryan's replacement, conservative agitator Alan Keyes, alienated his party with extremist rhetoric on abortion and homosexuality. Obama, a charismatic state senator, wowed the Democratic Convention, presenting himself as an optimistic coalition builder. The Senate shoo-in isn't just lucky, he's self-effacing about his success as well.

o COLORADO/SENATE

An Embarrassment of Riches?

Name recognition and deep pockets can go a long way in politics, and beer magnate Pete Coors boasts both in the race to replace retiring Senator Ben Nighthorse Campbell. Coors, 58, faces state attorney general Ken Salazar, 49, who has done a savvy job of playing up his humble rancher's roots; as he drives around in a pickup truck, the pro-choice Catholic calls for prescription-drug imports from Canada and a rollback of the Patriot Act. While attacking pork-barrel spending, Coors has stressed his business acumen and conservative values (favorite book: the Bible). Lately he has gotten flak for his family's outsourcing of jobs--a little reminder that wealth and fame can be a double-edged sword.

o NORTH CAROLINA/SENATE

Trade Winds

Erskine Bowles looks like the same Southern gentleman he was two years ago when he ran a meek and losing campaign against Elizabeth Dole, but he's no longer acting like one. Instead, President Clinton's former chief of staff is hammering away at U.S. Representative Richard Burr for the 80,000 jobs the state's textile and furniture industries have lost. Both candidates are having to backpedal ferociously to justify their past support for free trade.

o KENTUCKY/HOUSE

Ready for Their Close-Ups

His movie-star son George has helped raise money, but could Nick Clooney's celebrity be as much a liability as an asset in the race for Kentucky's conservative Fourth District? "[It's] Hollywood vs. the Heartland," business consultant Geoff Davis bellows on the stump. The charge of being an outsider doesn't stick easily to former newscaster Clooney, whose family has lived in the area for five generations. But if Davis brands him as too liberal on social issues, Clooney may feel like an outsider come Election Day.

o SOUTH DAKOTA/SENATE

Congress's Fall Guy?

Every chance he gets, Senate minority leader Tom Daschle, 56, reminds voters in this Republican stronghold of his power in the nation's Capitol. The problem is, his opponent, former U.S. Representative John Thune, 43, keeps bringing it up as well. Whereas Daschle stresses his ability to get the most for his little state, Thune casts him as the Democrats' No. 1 obstructionist to the Bush agenda. Daschle, Thune says, has held up judicial nominees and "embolden[ed] the enemy" by criticizing the President on the eve of the Iraq war. The challenger's assaults have turned what should have been a cakewalk for Daschle into the political fight of his life. The tight race has both sides engaged in plenty of retail campaigning and may be decided at all those pancake suppers and chili cook-offs.

o TEXAS/HOUSE

Money for Nothing

After House majority leader Tom DeLay redrew his old rival Martin Frost's district out of existence a year ago, Frost, a veteran Congressman, decided to stand in another one, the 32nd. The incumbent there, freshman Pete Sessions, suddenly faces a pit bull of a campaigner in a battle that will probably be the most expensive House race in the country, with each side expected to spend $4 million. With the candidates trading charges of poster stealing and arguing over who is tougher on child kidnappers, neither one may come out of this ugly fight looking like a winner.

o FLORIDA/SENATE

Filling Graham's Shoes

In his quest to be the first Cuban-American Senator, former HUD Secretary Mel Martinez, 57, says he is the "testament of the American Dream." He's also part of the President's dream; the White House picked Martinez to help Bush win Hispanic votes. The vitriol Martinez aimed at his chief rival in the primary turned off many Floridians. Now he faces Betty Castor, 63, a moderate former state education commissioner, who touts herself as a seamless replacement for popular retiring Senator Bob Graham.