The Prometheus Project's Tridish maintains that radio technology is not an arcane pursuit: "It doesn't take a rocket scientist to understand it. We've understood radio really well for 50 years. There is no technical debate; NPR is creating technical doubt where there is none."

Could the issue of interference be a convenient smoke screen? "I've been in Senate for 12 years and I've never been told, 'Prevent that from being done because it's going to cost me money,'" says Sen. Kerry. "It's always a greater-good argument. It's like what [former Sen.] Dale Bumpers said during the impeachment trial: 'When it's not about sex, it's about sex.' Well, when it's not about money, it's about money."

Coming into this battle, McCain watchers would have been hard-pressed to pick which side the senator held in lower regard, the NAB or the FCC. McCain is still upset that Congress four years ago gave away to broadcasters, instead of auctioning off, $70 billion worth of space on the broadcast spectrum that broadcasters need for digital television.

The NAB has also been steadfastly opposed to the cornerstone of McCain's campaign-finance reform, free commercial ad time for candidates. (According to a recent Paine Webber report, television stations will take in nearly $1 billion in paid political advertising this year, up more than 100 percent from the 1996 election cycle.)

As for the FCC, McCain has been relentless in his attacks on the agency, labeling it slow-moving and out of touch.

Indeed, McCain initially opposed the FCC's low-power initiative; McCain is suspicious of any administrative body in front of Congress. Eventually though, he came to see the issue as the NAB, a special interest, trying to use its influence to keep new voices off the dial.

(It's also possible there's an element of political payback in McCain's change of heart. The NAB's man on the Commerce Committee, New Hamshire's Gregg, was the chairman of Gov. George W. Bush's primary run against McCain in New Hampshire. He wasn't polite about it, either. "Basically, John McCain's tax cut is a tax cut that Al Gore loves," Gregg told "Meet the Press" host Tim Russert.)

By May of this year, McCain, along with Kerry, introduced a compromise bill that would allow the FCC to flip the low-power switch to On, but also give broadcasters the ability to sue over any interference issues. As Commerce Committee chairman, McCain sent a clear message: If low-power was going to be addressed by the Senate, it was his bill or no bill. Suddenly the NAB's bill, which had passed the House with a veto-proof margin, was bottled back up in committee, where it remained all summer and fall.

That left broadcasters with only one option: a rider.

When word spread two weeks ago that Grams and Gregg were angling to find a home for their low-power provision, McCain shot off a letter to Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott, R-Miss., and Appropriations Committee Chairman Ted Stevens, R-Alaska, insisting, "As Chairman of the Senate Commerce Committee, which exercises jurisdiction over these issues, I would strongly object to the inclusion of any such provision."

Just more D.C. posturing? McCain kept at it. In recent weeks McCain has sent two similar letters to Stevens, criticizing other proposed Commerce-related riders. Those two provisions were essentially killed.

Will McCain go 3-for-3 and squash the low-power rider? "I've found that riders this contentious don't usually happen," says one entertainment industry lobbyist not directly involved in the low-power battle. "I'd be surprised if they rolled McCain. That's a serious and dangerous thing for the NAB to try to do. He's become the nation's darling."

On the flip side, McCain's got a lot on his mind. He's overseen two recent sets of high-profile Senate hearings (one on Hollywood violence and the other on Firestone highway fatalities). He's been campaigning relentlessly this fall and has his cancer treatment to worry about as well. The question remains how much time and energy McCain can devote to fighting the relatively minor issue of low power. "All those distractions add up," notes one senator's aide.

For low-power supporters looking for a chance to plug in neighborhood radio stations, the nearly two-year-long low-power authorization process has been a painful education in the ways of Washington. "It's been an astonishing process, and a frustrating one, to watch our political system at work," says Tridish.

For Washington veterans though, low power has followed an all-too-familiar script. "It's part of the process," says Kerry. "Democracy isn't perfect. Sometimes you steal it fair and square. Sometimes they steal it fair and square. The other side on this has been direct. They've fought fair. They just have bigger gloves."

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