Washington, D.C. - Ask Rep. Howard Berman about poker, and he can recount, card for card, the suspenseful finale of the poker flick "Rounders."

 

Now ask Berman what his love of cards says about his political style, particularly his recent maneuvering to get $400 million for an expedited car-pool lane on the 405 Freeway.

 

"I guess there's this notion of low-balling a good hand until the guy raises you," the Van Nuys Democrat says.

 

Longtime friend and political ally Rep. Henry Waxman, D-Los Angeles, who used to play hearts with Berman, said he thinks the link is obvious.

 

"He can bluff when he needs to like in poker, and he knows how to put alliances together, like in hearts," Waxman said.

 

The story of the 405 Freeway has been something of a poker game.

 

For months, few people knew the highway project was even in the running for a large chunk of federal cash. Even Los Angeles County's top transportation lobbyist knew nothing about it.

 

That's because Berman had been making the case privately to Rep. James Oberstar, D-Minn., one of the powerful transportation leaders known on Capitol Hill as the Big Four.

 

Earlier this month, when Berman said he felt Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's staff wasn't coming through with the necessary support, the congressman launched a rare public attack. Schwarzenegger ultimately bowed to pressure and endorsed Berman's 405 quest.

 

Negotiations on the bill are in the final stages, and Congress could make a final decision today.

Oberstar said Berman "never came to me and said, 'This is something I want you do to for me.' He's very precise, very factual.

 

"He's not a horn blower. He's a, 'Something needs to get done, let's get it done' guy," he said.

 

In his 26 years in Washington, Berman's style has been to stay below the radar. And since the GOP takeover in 1994, the former labor lawyer has developed a reputation as a Democrat who can work in a Republican world.

 

"He's very shrewd politically," said Rep. David Dreier, R-Glendora, who works closely with Berman on entertainment and some immigration issues. "He's a very thoughtful guy. He's deliberative."

 

So far in the 109th Congress, Berman has introduced only one bill. By comparison, his neighbors Waxman and Rep. Howard P. "Buck" McKeon, R-Santa Clarita, have introduced nine each. Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Pasadena, has 15, and Dreier has 18.

 

Berman said he prefers to have Republicans, who actually wield the power, put their names on legislative efforts, giving the measures more chance of passing.

 

"Some of the accomplishments I'm most proud of, I did so quietly no one ever knew it was happening," he said.

 

At the moment, aside from the 405 Freeway, Berman has his sights set on the Patriot Act. Like many Democrats, he complains the powers given in the post-Sept. 11, 2001, legislation are too broad, and he has been pushing for changes.

 

But Berman is not holding news conferences to denounce the anti-terror law, and by design he has avoided a group of Democrats blasting the ornery chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, Wisconsin Rep. James Sensenbrenner.

 

Instead, Berman wrangled hearings on a few core issues. And given the chance to select a witness to argue his case that Congress should limit the government's ability to bar family and the public from deportation hearings, Berman chose a conservative attorney from a solidly Republican think tank.

 

"I think he values, far more than anything else, getting things done," Waxman said. "He's very much behind the scenes on most of the issues."

 

Working behind the scenes has its downside.

 

"Most of the time you don't even know he's there," said Norman Moore of North Hollywood, who said he has written Berman several times opposing the congressman's immigration positions, but rarely sees him in the district.

 

Berman, however, maintains he's not concerned about appearances. His news conferences remain few and far between. And, in a media-hungry atmosphere where many politicians issue press releases to announce the fact that they voted, Berman often has to be reminded to let the local papers know what bacon he's bringing home.

 

"In the end, my goal here isn't to let (newspapers) know that I'm trying to do something. It's to let the constituents know that they got done," he said.