1.   Abused women can gain new confidence when they realize they have political leverage against their abusive spouses.

2.   And for better or worse, the new interactivity brings enormous political leverage to ordinary citizens at relatively little cost.

3.   Meanwhile, organized labor and the thousands of new patronage jobs in the federal bureaucracy gave the president powerful political leverage.

4.   Turkey has promised not to use its control of the rivers for political leverage.

5.   And, lest Libya run out of hostages to trade for political leverage, the Abu Sayyaf group has helpfully abducted an American, Jeffrey Schilling.

6.   Both grasped that with the collapse of Modernism, architects were confronted with the loss of political leverage and esthetic meaning.

7.   A lame duck attorney general does not have much political leverage on Beacon Hill.

8.   Actually, the party chiefs had little of the usual political leverage over any of them.

9.   Advocacy groups often use the threat of a ballot measure for political leverage.

10.   By all accounts, Mrs. Smith has brought enthusiasm, fresh ideas and political leverage to her post.