RISING DEMOCRATS

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Politicians like talking about their war records, but Cleland's speaks for itself. A triple amputee in Vietnam, he was the youngest ever Administrator of Veterans Affairs. Back home, he became Georgia's Secretary of State and one of the state's top vote getters. His latest battle: helping his party keep Senator Sam Nunn's seat. If he wins--and polls show him ahead--credit his conservative stands on issues like gays in the military and a self-deprecating wit. ("I'm putting my best foot forward this fall, even if I have no feet.") He would be the first Southern Democrat since 1988 to take an open Senate seat.

H. Carl McCall NEW YORK STATE COMPTROLLER

Elected to his first full term as New York's fiscal watchdog in 1994, the year Republicans chased every other Democrat from statewide office, McCall became a hot prospect to challenge Governor George Pataki in '98. His resume is an American dream: one of six children raised by a single mother on welfare, he rose to a United Nations ambassadorship and a vice president's job at Citibank. Voters may also like his experience as a budget watcher.

Kathleen Connell CALIFORNIA CONTROLLER

Connell, another political cross-dresser and Governor-in-waiting, was not even registered as a Democrat until a year before she ran for office, and even now some party members call her a Republican in disguise. Within weeks of taking office she had begun pushing for the authority to conduct performance audits of every state agency to see if taxpayers' money is being spent wisely and usefully.

Armed with a Ph.D. from UCLA, Connell ran her own investment-banking firm before taking office. As a result, she calls herself the first state controller ever to have met a payroll and promotes the idea that she brings a businesslike--as opposed to partisan--approach to her job.

Patrick Kennedy RHODE ISLAND CONGRESSMAN

The recognition that comes with the Kennedy name can be a mixed blessing, especially when you carry it as the younger son of Senator Ted Kennedy, liberalism's weathered load bearer. First elected in '94, Patrick arrived in a G.O.P.-run House that gave him few opportunities to make any other name for himself. But party seers give the youngest member of the 104th Congress a shot in 2000 at the seat of Senator John Chafee. Strengths: political connections, deep pockets and a gift for old-time ethnic politicking. Weaknesses: a bout in drug rehab and his cameo at an Easter weekend in 1991 that ended in a rape charge against cousin William Kennedy Smith.

Dan Morales TEXAS ATTORNEY GENERAL

Like ambitious attorneys general in 14 other states, Morales has targeted the cigarette makers. His weapon: a $4 billion federal lawsuit seeking compensation for Medicaid payments for smoking-related illnesses. Critics say he's trying to deflect criticism for gutting his consumer-protection division; it pursued utilities, insurance companies and hospitals, which have more clout in his state than tobacco. Admirers say Morales, the second Hispanic elected to statewide office, won't be pigeonholed as liberal or conservative. Trickiest challenge: finding safe ground on affirmative action, which his office can defend or oppose.