"I like to try to work things out quietly, without a lot of fanfare," Bennett said.

Recently, Bennett has been quietly rounding up support among Republican senators for Kentucky Sen. Mitch McConnell's bid to succeed Sen. Bill Frist as the body's majority leader. Frist has said he will leave the Senate at the end of next year and is widely expected to run for president.

Bennett says he has already locked up enough votes to guarantee McConnell will be the next leader. With 40 votes, more than 70 percent of the Republican senators, it's unlikely anyone will even challenge McConnell, Bennett said.

It's a ways off, but if it plays out as planned, Bennett's loyalty would probably be at the right hand of the majority leader, giving him an opportunity to help shape the Republican agenda in the Senate - in his quiet, behind-the-scenes way.

"If it does happen . . . acting how he is in the role essentially of campaign manager, that would leave [Bennett] in a position to be very influential," said Norm Ornstein, a congressional scholar at the American Enterprise Institute.

The most likely scenario is that Bennett would take the role as McConnell's counselor, an informal position for a confidant to the Senate leader. It would be a post that would play to Bennett's strengths as a deal maker and policy wonk.

"Without making any announcements . . . I would think it is a possibility that Senator McConnell will use me in that role," Bennett said in an interview. Even if McConnell doesn't, Bennett expects to be in the leadership's inner circle.

"I would expect my role with Mitch would be the same as it is now, regardless of what title is put on it or even if no title is put on it," he said.

McConnell is now majority whip, responsible for keeping the troops in line and counting the votes on legislation headed for the floor. Bennett is the chief deputy whip, who helps coordinate about 10 Republican members who actually count the votes.

Earlier this year, when McConnell underwent heart bypass surgery, it was Bennett who stepped in to fill the whip's duties.

Some have suggested that Bennett should run for one of the formal leadership positions, like policy chairman, but Bennett said he doesn't put much weight in such encouragement and doesn't have much interest in those positions.

"The reason I don't have any thoughts of running for formal leadership spot is basically I view myself as a policy senator rather than a process senator," he said.

Leadership positions are time-consuming and require additional staff that he said would distract from his focus on helping to shape policy.

"I've just made the decision, I'm happier on the policy side than I am with the process side," he said.

McConnell is in a strong position now, in part because of Bennett's work, but Ornstein warns that it may be too early to be counting the chickens. With a year and a half to go before a vote, other candidates may come to the fore.

In a body of ambitious politicians, he could still be challenged for the majority leader post, and in the secret balloting of leadership elections, commitments of support have been known to vanish.

Ornstein suspects that's why Bennett has come out with such confidence - to scare off potential challengers. It remains to be seen if it will work.