Mr. Amarjargal, too, after years of watching from the political sidelines, is running for Parliament.

Suddenly, a onetime gadfly who is accustomed to hovering on the political sidelines has a lot of responsibility and, more to the point, power.

Democrats, who had for the most part stayed on the political sidelines as Republicans pushed the Schiavo cause, immediately seized on Mr. DeLay's remarks.

Mr. Gusenbauer seemed resigned to the possibility, however, that his Social Democratic Party may again be relegated to the political sidelines.

In an interview, Mr. Khatami said he worried that the reform movement might now be crippled by the disqualifications and consigned to the political sidelines for years.

During a quarter century of military and conservative civilian rule, voices like that of Mr. da Silva and other leftists were relegated to Brazil's political sidelines.

For the Soviet Union, it erases a diplomatic anomaly that helped shove it to the political sidelines in this region.

He was the reluctant Gandhi, content on the political sidelines as his mother and brother strained to command an immense and diverse nation.

In the meantime, many business leaders who formerly backed Mr. Barry have sidled over to the political sidelines.

Unwilling to remain on the political sidelines, he became Prime Minister.