11.   Senators on both side of the partisan divide praised Thompson, the governor of Wisconsin, and predicted speedy Senate confirmation.

12.   Some had proclaimed that this year would be different, that the excruciatingly close partisan divide would make them critical power brokers.

13.   The paper-thin partisan divides in the House and Senate will certainly compound the pressure to find common policy ground.

14.   The partisan divide is deeper than can be bridged by a month of calm presidential conduct.

15.   With neither party holding a real majority in the Senate, both sides are heavily courting the maverick from Arizona who specializes in building coalitions across the partisan divide.

16.   And we fear that Mr. Gore will not be able to surmount the partisan divides in Washington, D.C., that are so dispiriting.

17.   House Republicans rejected a Democratic effort Thursday to impose federal price caps on electricity prices in the western United States amid an intensifying partisan divide over energy.

18.   That could be attributed to a lingering partisan divide after the contentious election and recount.

19.   When welfare and Medicaid were linked, the prospect of legislative progress was bleak because of partisan divides and the threat of a presidential veto.