If the name Joseph L. Rauh Jr. doesn't ring any bells for you, don't feel too guilty. In the nearly six decades he toiled as a liberal political activist and lawyer in Washington, D.C., Rauh (rhymes with "brow") never wrote a book or carved out much of a public persona. But the longevity and ubiquity of his presence and the sheer breadth of his accomplishments make him a nearly singular figure in modern American political history. Encompassing New Deal regulatory battles, crusades on behalf of civil rights and civil liberties, an encyclopedic array of advocacy organizations, and ceaseless struggles in union halls, congressional chambers, and party convention floors over the years, Joe Rauh's biography is the story of 20th-century liberalism. Thankfully, Michael E.

GROVER NORQUIST'S EERIE PRESCIENCE. Today in The Washington Post, Grover Norquist argues not only that "Karl Rove changed history," but that his vision "of the modern Republican Party as the dominant governing power" will "come sooner for his life and work." (Norquist implies that the Democrats' current hubristic overreach during their brief moment in the majority will itself help to usher in "a conservative Republican majority in Congress to last a generation," just a bit later than Rove had anticipated.)