Despite the confusion surrounding the changing of power in the Senate, things are still getting done in Washington. The Senate recently passed the education bill, a major item from the agenda of President George W. Bush, and sent it on to conference with the House of Representatives that had already passed a companion bill. That, plus the tax bill already signed, Bush can call it a rather successful first five months. He has passed the top two priorities on his agenda under difficult and unusual circumstances.

The Senate has rearranged the deck chairs, but it still has not come to a final agreement on the power-sharing arrangements necessitated by the change of control from Republican to Democrat. When the Senate was 50-50, the two leaders, Republican Trent Lott and Democrat Tom Daschle, put together a plan that accommodated the strange environment. With the tie-breaking vote in the hands of Vice President Dick Cheney, the Republicans got the best of it, as well they should. They enjoyed the general perks of the majority. They chaired the 50-50 committees, although they provided items that were subjects of a tie vote in the committees to come to the floor for a vote.

Now the shoe is on the other foot. The Democrats enjoy the extra vote. They will enjoy the chairmanships and the perks of majority by right. They could stonewall the president's appointments. They could shelve his favorite programs. It has happened in the recent past, like last year when the Republicans controlled the Senate under Democratic President Bill Clinton. The Republicans fear that the Democrats will play tit for tat and prevent Bush from getting his conservative judicial appointment on the bench. They are worried that the Democrats will play the same games they played when the roles were reversed.

That has led to a difficult negotiation. The sticking point has become the judicial nominations. Clearly, the judiciary is one of the most contentious issues of the day. Bush has his eyes set on leaving a conservative judiciary as the principal legacy of his presidency. That lights a fire under Democrats, who believe that the judges might undo the progress they believe has been made in women's rights, civil rights and civil liberties. The disagreement is a tough one. Both sides feel strongly about their positions and do not want to compromise. But they cannot allow the organization of the Senate to drift, either. Something will have to give -- and give soon.

Bush has become a traveling man. He has visited half of the U.S. states in less than five months as president, and now he has begun to wander the globe. Last week he was in Europe, visiting with NATO allies in Brussels, European Union leaders in Stockholm and Russian President Vladimir Putin in Slovenia.

This first trip was less dependent on substance and more designed to build relationships with his fellow leaders. The president displayed the same "charm offensive" that he brought with him to Washington. So far, so good.

Bush has real differences with European leaders, however. The president's positions on global warming and on his missile-defense program are strongly opposed in Europe. Demonstrators dogged his travel from his first stop in Madrid throughout the trip. It will be a while before we know whether he was successful in convincing any of his counterparts on any of his positions.

Is it too early to look at the 2004 presidential race? Clearly the president is making decisions on a daily basis to improve his electoral position for re-election in that year. Look at the attention he is paying to the Hispanic vote. It was no accident that the first stop on his European swing was in Madrid.

The one big domestic issue he acted on while traveling was to announce that the U.S. Navy would be ending its half-century use of the Puerto Rican island of Vieques as a practice range -- a decision taken to mollify Hispanic activists. The decision angered the top military brass and many of his most important Congressional supporters. It is all about Hispanic politics.

But other people are also maneuvering and planning for the next presidential race. A friend of mine who will seek a governor's chair next year told me the other day that Connecticut's Democratic Sen. Joe Lieberman called him just to say hello. And, the next day, Sen. John Kerry, a Massachusetts Democrat, called to offer to hold a fundraiser for his putative gubernatorial effort in Kerry's home state -- more than 3,200 km from the candidate's target state.

The Democratic field is well stocked. The present line up includes:

* Former Vice President Al Gore -- "Will he or won't he" -- is the big question mark about Gore. He has kept his own counsel on the matter, maintaining a very low profile and making few, if any, overt moves toward another candidacy. He has quietly mended fences with important party leaders and financial supporters.

* Sen. Joe Lieberman: His attractive candidacy for the vice presidency last fall has thrust Lieberman into the front ranks of potential candidates. But getting the presidential nomination is far different than getting chosen for the number two position. The vice presidential candidate is selected by one person -- the presidential nominee. To get the presidential nomination, the candidate must run the gauntlet of the primaries, raise $20 million or so and have a great deal of luck.

* Sen. John Kerry: The Boston blue blood, Vietnam hero has made a strong record in the Senate, despite being always in the shadow of the other senator from Massachusetts, Edward Kennedy. He has done all of the preliminaries and is quietly, but methodically, working toward developing a candidacy.

* House Minority Leader Richard Gephardt of Missouri: An early star of the 1988 campaign, Gephardt has kept his dreams alive while handling the drudgery of daily House leadership. He recently visited New Hampshire.

* Sen. Majority Leader Thomas Daschle of South Dakota. He is the most powerful Democrat in Washington. If he performs well, he can go far.

* Sen. Joe Biden of Delaware: Biden was a candidate back in 1988 and 1992, but never was able to convert his potential into reality on the trail. He has matured and developed a solid record of achievement in the Senate on foreign-policy and civil-liberties issues.

It is early. There are certainly other clandestine Democratic candidacies being spawned. And don't count the Republicans out. Bush could provoke a contest for the nomination.