John Conyers (D-Mich.) may be the Judiciary Committee's ranking Democrat, but he is also one of its dimmer bulbs -- hardly perfect casting for the demanding role of thorn in the Republican Hyde. "Hyde is so smart, so fast on his feet," laments a Democratic congressional staff member. "Conyers is no match for him." Having spent most of his 34-year career fighting the good fight on civil rights issues, the natty 69-year-old gets more notice these days for his rambling soliloquies and his propensity for going AWOL at meeting time.

But Conyers, as the only Judiciary member who served on the committee that voted to impeach Nixon in 1974, has at least been through this before. And whatever memories he can dust off of that committee's rigorously bipartisan image -- several of its most important votes were actually unanimous -- will serve him and the Democrats well. With partisan lines already etched deep this time around, Conyers' primary task will be to leave the one-liners to Barney Frank and point out again and again how much fairer impeachment was back in the old days. He should be able to handle that.